{"id":2368658,"date":"2024-11-13T18:31:01","date_gmt":"2024-11-13T23:31:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pete-hegseth-draws-attention-over-edward-gallagher-controversy-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2024-11-13T18:31:26","modified_gmt":"2024-11-13T23:31:26","slug":"pete-hegseth-draws-attention-over-edward-gallagher-controversy-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pete-hegseth-draws-attention-over-edward-gallagher-controversy-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"Pete Hegseth draws attention over Edward Gallagher controversy &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fpete-hegseth-draws-attention-over-edward-gallagher-controversy-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2368658&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article \u2062discusses the \u200dcontroversy surrounding \u2063Pete Hegseth, \u200bPresident-elect Donald Trump&#8217;s nominee for defense secretary,\u200c particularly relating to his involvement in the case of former Navy SEAL Edward Gallagher. Gallagher faced serious allegations of war crimes\u200b during his service in Iraq, including the\u2064 murder of civilians, but was acquitted of most charges. Trump\u2063 pardoned Gallagher in 2019 \u2063after being influenced\u2064 by media coverage from Hegseth, who has been vocal in support of Gallagher throughout the case. The situation escalated after Gallagher sought\u2063 revenge against former \u200dteam members \u2063who testified against him by revealing their identities in a video, which <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/akron-police-officers-cleared-of-all-charges-in-connection-to-fatal-shooting-of-jaylan-walker\/\" title=\"Akron police officers found innocent in Jaylan Walker&#039;s fatal shooting case\">sparked public\u2064 outrage<\/a>. Aside from \u2062Gallagher, Hegseth also advocated for the\u2064 pardons of other soldiers accused of similar crimes, emphasizing his commitment to &#8220;taking care of our\u2064 warriors.&#8221;  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Trump defense secretary pick Hegseth draws attention over Edward Gallagher controversy<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1880320\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>President-elect <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Donald Trump's\">Donald Trump&rsquo;s<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">defense secretary nominee<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/defense\/3228614\/pete-hegseth-pentagon-controversial-resume-fox-news-host\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Donald Trump's\">Pete Hegseth<\/a>, is already drawing controversy over his role in former Navy SEAL <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/1199503\/cowards-pardoned-eddie-gallagher-exposes-identities-of-active-seals-who-testified-against-him\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Edward Gallagher's\">Edward Gallagher&rsquo;s<\/a> presidential pardon.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>Gallagher was a decorated Navy SEAL who <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nazi-cowards-calgary-police-arrest-polish-pastor-who-refused-to-allow-police-health-officials-to-disrupt-service\/\" title=\"\u2018Nazi Cowards\u2019: Calgary Police Arrest Polish Pastor Who Refused To Allow Police, Health Officials To Disrupt Service\">drew international attention<\/a> for allegations of war crimes during his time fighting the Islamic State group in Iraq, particularly during the Battle of Mosul. He was&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/defense-national-security\/jury-finds-navy-seal-eddie-gallagher-not-guilty-of-war-crimes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">arrested and charged<\/a>&nbsp;with several war crimes in 2018, including the killing of civilians and stabbing a teenage Islamic State group prisoner then taking a photograph with his corpse. A military court acquitted Gallagher on all charges except for taking a photograph with the corpse.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">In this July 2, 2019, file photo, Navy Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher leaves a military court on Naval Base San Diego. Navy SEALs described their platoon leader, retired Special Operations Chief Gallagher, as &ldquo;evil,&rdquo; &ldquo;toxic,&rdquo; and &ldquo;perfectly OK with killing anybody that was moving&rdquo; in video footage obtained by the New York Times. (AP Photo\/Gregory Bull)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Trump personally involved himself in the case after the lobbying of figures on Fox News, particularly Hegseth. He pardoned Gallagher in 2019 and reinstated his rank.<\/p>\n<p>Hegseth heavily covered Gallagher&rsquo;s case at its height through his role at Fox News. It was primarily through this that Trump, a noted Fox News fan, took interest in the case.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;re going to take care of our warriors, and I will always stick up for our great fighters,&rdquo; Trump said at a November 2019 rally. &ldquo;People can sit there in air-conditioned offices and complain, but you know what? It doesn&rsquo;t matter to me whatsoever.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>In a 2019 appearance on Fox News, Gallagher&rsquo;s brother personally thanked Hegseth live on air for his support of the Navy SEAL. <\/p>\n<p>Aside from Gallagher, Hegseth also successfully lobbied Trump to pardon two other soldiers accused of war crimes, Maj. Mathew L. Golsteyn and First Lt. Clint Lorance.<\/p>\n<p>The <em>Washington Examiner<\/em> reached out to Gallagher for comment.<\/p>\n<p>Gallagher remained the subject of controversy after his pardon when he sought revenge against his former colleagues who testified against him, posting a Facebook video in January 2020 showing the pictures and names of them.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Even though I went to trial, exposed all the lies that were said about me by certain cowards in my platoon, and found not guilty, there are those to this day who refuse to accept that fact,&rdquo; he said in the video.<\/p>\n<p>The video was met with widespread outrage, with many arguing that Gallagher was putting active-duty Navy SEALs in danger by disclosing their identities.<\/p>\n<p>Shortly beforehand, in December 2019, Gallagher&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/defense-national-security\/i-feel-sorry-for-them-eddie-gallagher-says-seals-lied-in-videos-accusing-him-of-war-crimes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">told the<\/a>&nbsp;<em>Washington Examiner<\/em> that his &ldquo;first reaction to seeing the videos was surprise and disgust that they would make up blatant lies about me, but I quickly realized that they were scared that the truth would come out of how cowardly they acted on deployment. I felt sorry for them that they thought it necessary to smear my name, but they never realized what the consequences of their lies would be.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\"><strong><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The move alienated many former defenders and could pose a problem for Hegseth. Lawmakers at the time blasted Trump&rsquo;s pardon of Gallagher, with Senate Armed Services Chairman&nbsp;Jack Reed (D-RI) saying it was a &ldquo;serious disservice&rdquo; to military service members.<\/p>\n<p>Gallagher is an outspoken Trump supporter, selling merchandise such as pro-Trump brass knuckles on his website.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1880320\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1880320\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hegseth faces scrutiny over Gallagher&#8217;s pardon as Trump\u2019s pick<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2653,"featured_media":2368659,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Eddie-Gallagher.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[6733,44965,39304,44930,32076],"class_list":["post-2368658","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-controversy","tag-edward-gallagher","tag-military-news","tag-pete-hegseth","tag-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Eddie-Gallagher.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2368658","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2653"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2368658"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2368658\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2368662,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2368658\/revisions\/2368662"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2368659"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2368658"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2368658"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2368658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}