Bowe Bergdahl’s Defense Team Might Call Donald Trump as a Witness

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump may see himself called to the stand during the trial of Army sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, accused of deserting his unit in Afghanistan in 2009.

Bergdahl’s lawyers maintain that Trump has compromised the soldier’s right to a fair and impartial trial. In the past several months, Trump has made statements calling him a traitor and saying he “should have been executed.” Bergdahl’s lawyers are concerned that with the large media following Trump enjoys, potential jurors have already been poisoned against their client.

“The First Amendment rules out any effort to prevent Mr. Trump from making these defamatory remarks,” Bergdahl’s lawyers argued in a court filing. “The fact remains, however, that his pattern of doing so, with the full glare of public attention before mass audiences around the country, materially threatens Bergdahl’s right to fair consideration by the convening authority as well as in a court-martial.”

Accordingly, Trump himself could be subpoenaed for the court martial trial if lawyers make that argument. But Bergdahl’s lawyers aren’t saying if that will definitely happen. “We’ve made no decision yet on whether to call Mr. Trump as a witness,” his lawyer told Bloomberg. “We continue to monitor his defamatory statements.”

[Image via screengrab]
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