On June 18, 2026, MilitaryCorruption.com submitted a letter to Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao requesting an Officer Grade Determination Board inquiry of the actions of retired Vice Admiral James W. Crawford during the time period that served as Deputy, and the Judge Advocate General of the U.S. Navy.
There are many cases involving VADM Crawford that we are still investigating. One that stands out is the case involving a Navy SEAL team member.
VICE ADMIRAL CRAWFORD RAILROADS
INNOCENT NAVY SEAL INTO PRISON
A former U.S. Navy SEAL Senior Chief served for over 25 years, including deployments to Iraq, Kosovo, and South America. Known for his leadership and operational expertise, the senior chief’s career took a dramatic turn when he was wrongfully convicted of sexual assault under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ).
His conviction was later overturned by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces (CAAF) due to prosecutorial misconduct and unlawful command influence.
On September 2018, CAAF ruled that Vice Admiral Crawford had violated Article 37, Unlawful Command Influence (UCI) in a case that sent an innocent Navy SEAL team member to prison for nearly three years (33 months).
Instead of prosecuting Crawford, the Navy allowed him to retire. He is currently the President of Texas Southern University. His pension from the Navy is between $120,000 to $192,000 annually, blended with his salary as a college president somewhere between $150K to $200K per year.
In other words, Jimmy Crawford enjoys a lavish income of close to $400,000 per year, or roughly $33,000 per month. If anyone else had violated the law like Vice Admiral Crawford, they would have been court martialed, Dishonorable Discharge and received felony convictions.
When our civilian friends complain of “lawfare,” they don’t realize the military invented “lawfare.”
We invite our readers to conduct their own research that will reveal several cases and commentary by defense attorneys asking the Navy to proceed with court martial proceedings against Crawford. We have linked numerous articles below.
While it appears, absent any unusual circumstances or policy changes, it seems that the statute of limitations has expired to prosecute Crawford for UCMJ violations, however the Officer Grade Determination Board has no such limitations.
There are numerous published articles reporting on the CAAF ruling that Crawford violated Article 37, UCI with several quotes by criminal defense attorneys calling for his general court martial.
Rather than having to face embarrassing facts that certainly would have emerged from a court martial, the United States Navy did what they always do. The Navy allowed Vice Admiral James W. Crawford III to retire with full retirement pay and benefits.
Crawford, no doubt, felt he was above the law; and that’s because flag-ranking officers are indeed above the law.
Another advocacy organization sent letters to the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) and the Senate Armed Services Committee requesting Crawford be referred to a court martial Nothing was done and no one responded.
PARALLELS WITH THE DUKE LACROSSE CASE
Virtually everyone is familiar with the infamous ‘Duke Lacrosse’ case. In 2006-2007, the nation was rocked by the infamous ‘Duke Lacrosse’ scandal. Despite volumes of exculpatory evidence, three lacrosse players were accused of sexual assault.
Then, North Carolina District Attorney Mike Nifong willfully withheld critical DNA evidence to ingratiate himself with black voters to ensure being re-elected to office.
He ordered the lab director to hide the DNA findings, (that the players were innocent) from the defense team, which was a direct violation of Constitutional discovery rules, among many other ethical violations.
Nifong was removed from office, disbarred by the North Carolina State Bar for fraud and misconduct, and was jailed for criminal contempt.
Vice Admiral Crawford received an Honorable Discharge and became President of Texas Southern University.
Were it not for the financial resources of the parents of the falsely accused students, who retained competent legal counsel, the lies and lawfare of corrupt D.A. Mike Nifong were ultimately exposed.
While Nifong was disbarred and criminally charged, he only spent one lousy night in jail. If you had been a student falsely accused of rape, you may have wanted more than a single night in jail for a corrupt prosecutor.
EPIDEMIC OF PROSECUTORAL MISCONDUCT
In 2013, the Center for Prosecutor Integrity issued a Special Report entitled, ‘An Epidemic of Prosecutor Misconduct.’ This report exposes some startling examples of prosecutorial misconduct.
While each branch of the military has their own Judge Advocate General Corps, they also have a Professional Responsibility Branch, which in theory, is supposed to monitor attorney conduct and investigate complaints or examples of misconduct.
However, these entities for the most part, do the exact opposite. They DO NOT properly investigate complaints of attorney misconduct, but rather, go to extremes to ignore, excuse or ‘cover-up’ incidents of attorney misconduct.
In 2014, California attorney Timothy Naegele published an article on his Blog calling for the abolition of the California State Bar.
He stated in part, “I am ashamed to be a member of the State Bar; and I never thought that I would come to that conclusion. It is like belonging to a private club that discriminates and is run by an inbred clique or cabal. At best, it is a third-rate trade association.”
MC.com is aware of a complaint made to the Professional Responsibility Branch of the Navy JAG that consisted of over two hundred pages of documents and dozens of exhibits. A little over a month had passed before a letter was sent, essentially absolving a rogue prosecutor of misconduct.
An advocate reviewing the response from the Navy described the result as ‘legal mumbo-jumbo gobbledygook bullshit.’
In short, the response was something along the lines of…
The case went to a committee then a special group then another committee, a review board, and yet another committee. Then finally a reviewing person, and voilà; nobody did anything wrong. Nothing to see here folks; let’s keep the line moving along.
The military, a civilian state bar or judicial commissions routinely sweep complaints against prosecutors and judges under the rug or come up with creative ways to excuse their misconduct.
This is generally true unless you are an attorney or judge who runs afoul of a certain political or ideological narratives. Or, if you are an attorney or judge who exposes incompetence or corruption within the legal system.
In those cases, people within the system will quickly move to protect the system. They will attack any attorney or judge who dares to tell the truth. They will find (or create) the smallest infraction in order to censure, suspend or disbar anyone who gets out of line.
Equal Justice Under Law… give us a break. It’s a figment of our imagination.
It works the other way too. If an attorney or judge is part of the preferred political class or ideological narrative, including sexual preference or race, they can violate any and all laws, state bar regulations, or ethical norms with complete impunity. They receive an exemption from punishment.
FANI AND NATHAN,
TAXPAYER-PAID, NEVER-ENDING HONEYMOON
Consider the case of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis in her politically motivated and invented prosecution of President Donald Trump.
Fani Willis was eventually disqualified from the case after it was learned that she paid her lover, Nathan Wade massive amounts of taxpayer money.
Willis benefitted from lavish travel excursions and then lied over and over again, while being questioned under oath about her activities. The published articles about Fani’s lies and deceptions are seemingly endless.
Despite Willis’ fantastical stories about her handling of the case and her finances, and the plethora of lies, besides her removal from the case, she was never sanctioned. As they say, ‘She considered herself to be above the law she was imposing on everyone else.’
While there are scores of honest and ethical prosecutors and judges. There is little to no accountability for rogue prosecutors or judges. Lawfare and malicious prosecutions, once a rare and infrequent occurrence are now commonplace in America.
ATTY DAVID SHELDON URGED THE CNO
TO PLACE VADM CRAWFORD ON LEGAL HOLD
In September of 2018 the Navy Times reported on the CAAF ruling. Attorney David Sheldon had urged Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson to place Crawford’s pending retirement on “legal hold and institute proceedings against him” because justice, “demands those responsible be held accountable and in this case, it is Vice Admiral Crawford who should be punished.”
Attorney David Sheldon was quoted in several articles that he had asked the Navy to prosecute Crawford rather than allow him to retire. But the Navy decided to thumb their noses at David Sheldon and the rule-of-law by allowing The scheming Crawford to retire “honorably.”
In another case where it was alleged that Crawford illegally interfered, defense attorney Colby Vokey, told The San Diego Union-Tribune the dismissal was long overdue and stating, “the case should have never been brought. It was rife with unlawful command influence and overreach in prosecution.”
Based on the research that MC.com has conducted to include official court rulings, it appears that Crawford may be in violation of, but not limited to the following violations from the Uniform Code of Military Justice…
Article 37 – Unlawful Command Influence
Article 92 – Dereliction of Duty
Article 98 – Noncompliance with Procedural Rules
Article 131b – Obstruction of Justice
Article 133 – Several Counts of “Conduct Unbecoming”
Article 134 – Malicious Prosecution
This does not include any potential violations of the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct or any potential Federal Criminal Law statutes.
If any person has any information that could shed further light on the history of misconduct of retired VADM James Crawford, please feel free to reach out to MilitaryCorruption.com, or to the Officer Grade Determination Board.
HOW TO CONTACT THE NAVY’S COUNCIL OF REVIEW
Secretary of the Navy Council of Review Boards
ATTN: Officer Grade Determination Board
720 Kennon Street SE, Suite 309
Washington Navy Yard, DC 20374-5023
Everyone should consider is the damage to the negatively affected service member, their families, colleagues and the service in general.
The financial, psychological and emotional toll could take decades to recover, and some never recover. Sadly, in some cases, some who have been put through the ‘meat grinder’ have taken their own lives.
Links/References:
https://tsu.edu/about/office-of-the-president/index.php
https://www.prosecutorintegrity.org/wp-content/uploads/EpidemicofProsecutorMisconduct.pdf
the-state-bar-of-california-is-lawless-and-a-travesty-and-should-be-abolished
IMPORTANT NOTE:
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Thank you,
Administrative Staff
MilitaryCorruption.com
