Combat veteran GOP senator ducks criticizing Trump plan to pardon accused military war criminals
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Appearing on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Republican Senator and combat veteran Joni Ernst (R-IA) chose her words very carefully when asked what she thought about President Donald Trump’s floating the possibility of a pardon for a former Navy SEAL accused of war crimes.
Pressed by fill-in host Dana Bash, Ernst tried to deflect away from Trump’s defense of multiple military vets awaiting trial for war crimes, by saying everyone should be supporting the military.
Ernst also professed to not know the details surrounding the case of Nany SEAL Eddie Gallagher who is awaiting court-martial on charges he shot unarmed civilians and stabbed a defenseless teenager while deployed to help Iraqi forces fight ISIS in 2017.
Asked about Trump interfering with case, the military vet would only say, “If our soldiers, sailors, army and marines, if they are found guilty of war crimes, we need to be careful in that, because it is not okay to perpetrate war crimes.”
Pressed further by Bash, Ernst once again pleaded ignorance about the “legalities” involved in the military cases that have been well-documented by both the Pentagon and the press.
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