The case of Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher is still having a trickledown effect that may cause more conflict within Navy leadership.
After secret conversations were discovered regarding Gallagher by the Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer and White House officials, Secretary of Defense Mark. T. Esper demanded the resignation of Spencer.
Going Behind His Back
There has been a lot of conflicting stories about Gallagher over the last few weeks.
After Gallagher’s trial, his rank was reduced and he was in danger of losing his Trident.
The loss of rank would have cost Gallagher hundreds of thousands of dollars over the course of his retirement, which has his supporters up in arms.
Trump restored Gallagher’s rank and demanded his Trident remain untouched.
According to reports, while threatening to remove Gallagher’s Trident, Secretary Spencer was trying to broker a deal behind the scenes to get Gallagher to retire now, in which case he would allow Gallagher to keep his Trident.
When word of this got out, both Trump and Esper were furious.
Esper stated, “I am deeply troubled by this conduct shown by a senior DOD official.
“Unfortunately, as a result, I have determined that Secretary Spencer no longer has my confidence to continue in his position. I wish Richard well.”
The Fix Was In
This entire mess stems from an internal investigation that was to be held by the Trident review board.
Spencer was holding one position publicly while apparently trying to gain favor with the President privately.
Reports stated that Spencer wanted Trump to allow the Trident board to conduct its review, something Trump had ordered halted.
However, Spencer was reportedly guaranteeing the outcome of the review to be that Gallagher would be given back his rank and would be permitted to keep his Trident.
Trump was furious over the nature of the dishonesty, which then resulted in Spencer being terminated.
Kenneth Braithwaite, upon Esper’s recommendation to Trump, is atop the President’s list to replace Spencer as the Secretary of the Navy.
Braithwaite is currently serving as the U.S. Ambassador to Norway and he is a retired Rear Admiral.