Bowe Bergdahl Lawyer: Donald Trump Should Be Sued for Defamation

Posted 2015-08-21 18:27 by Grunt Report with 0 comments

An attorney for Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl said Thursday recent comments made by Donald Trump threaten his client’s right to a fair trial, after the presidential candidate called Bergdahl a “dirty, rotten traitor.”

At a town hall in New Hampshire on Wednesday, Trump referred to Bergdahl as a “dirty, rotten traitor” and appeared to pantomime his execution while criticizing the soldier’s release as part of a prisoner exchange with the Taliban.

Attorney Eugene R. Fidell said in a statement that his client was unable to speak out in his own defense because he is facing a preliminary hearing in the military justice system.

“Nor, as a practical matter, is he [Bergdahl] in a position, for the moment, to bring the defamation lawsuit Mr. Trump richly deserves,” Fidell said in the statement.

Bergdahl, who left his post in Afghanistan in 2009 and was then held captive by the Taliban for five years, was charged with desertion and endangering fellow soldiers this past March.

He was released from captivity on May 31 of last year in a controversial prisoner exchange for five Taliban commanders being held at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

Fidell called Trump’s allegations “unfounded” and stressed his client has never been charged with treason. He said that Trump’s remarks in New Hampshire, as well as other comments he has made over the past year “directly threaten my client’s right to a fair trial.”