Bergdahl should have also been charged with eight counts of murder.
The attorney for Bowe Bergdahl, the Army sergeant accused of deserting his base in Afghanistan before he was taken prisoner by the Taliban, says presidential candidate Donald Trump’s criticism of his client threatens Bergdahl’s ability to get a fair trial.
In a statement released Thursday, attorney Eugene Fidell said Trump’s derision of Bergdahl as a “dirty, rotten traitor” was “contemptible and un-American” and threatened to color the opinions of jurors in a potential court-martial.
“Sergeant Bergdahl is not charged with treason or anything like it,” Fidell said, condemning “Mr. Trump’s reckless disregard for the truth.”
Bergdahl, who is charged with desertion and misbehavior before the enemy, faces an investigative hearing in September, which will decide whether his case should be referred to trial.
Bergdahl was released by Taliban fighters last year in a controversial prisoner swap that included the release of five Taliban militants held in the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He was captured in 2009 after he abruptly left his base.
Soldiers in Bergdahl’s unit said he had no plans to return. Fidell has said Bergdahl was trying to draw attention to problems inside the base.