DID NAVY’S TOP ATTORNEY UNDERMINE A WAR
CRIMES CASE BROUGHT AGAINST THREE SEALS?
MILITARY JUDGE (CMDR ARTHUR GASTON) IN SAN
DIEGO RULES JAG VICE ADM JAMES CRAWFORD
DID JUST THAT – UNLAWFUL COMMAND INFLUENCE
POISON THAT EATS AT HEART OF JUSTICE SYSTEM
© 2018 MilitaryCorruption.com
A monkey wrench may have been thrown into the prosecution of three Navy SEALS who have been accused of abusing male prisoners in Afghanistan some six years ago.
Military Judge CMDR Arthur Gaston, sitting in San Diego, has ruled that top JAG, Navy VICE ADM James Crawford III did just that in a case that was first brought to light by a major story in the New York TIMES. Crawford, if he indeed exerted unlawful command influence, could have short-circuited a fair trial for the three accused enlisted men.
They are: Special Warfare PO1 Daniel V. Dambrosio Jr., and two Special Warfare CPOs, Xavier Silva and David W. Swarts.
UNDUE INFLUENCE IS INSIDIOUS
The men are accused of taking part in the kicking and beating of Afghan prisoners in Uruzgan Province back in May of 2012. The alleged incident is said to have taken place at Village Stability Platform Kalach.
This is not the first time top JAG Crawford has been accused of stepping over the line when it comes to exerting undue influence on a military case. He is alleged to have unlawfully inserted himself into the 2015 rape court martial of SR CHIEF Special Warfare Operator Keith Barry (see related stories below).
Crawford also is suspected by defense attorneys of placing his thumb on the scale in the May 2016 investigation of Navy SMN James Lovelace’s pool drowning during initial SEAL training. Do any of our readers have some information on this that they’d like to share with us? We will keep your identity confidential.