‘UNIQUE SITUATION’

Judge Voids Court-Martial Conviction of Soldier Held by Taliban for Years

Bowe Bergdahl walked off his post in Afghanistan in 2009.

A federal judge on Tuesday voided the court-martial conviction of Bowe Bergdahl, the U.S. Army sergeant who walked off his post in Afghanistan in 2009 and was captured by the Taliban. Bergdahl was freed in a 2014 prisoner swap and was then convicted three years later, leaving him with a dishonorable discharge and demotion in rank to the lowest enlisted pay grade. U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton on Tuesday ruled that the military judge who presided over Bergdahl’s court martial had failed to disclose an application at the time to become a federal immigration judge, potentially creating the appearance of bias given then-President Donald Trump’s scathing comments about Bergdahl. “This case presents a unique situation where the military judge might be inclined to appeal to the president’s expressed interest in the plaintiff’s conviction and punishment when applying for the immigration judge position,” Walton wrote in his ruling.