Come for Morning Wire’s Afternoon Update’s straight news, but stay for the Rapid Reactions The following five stories, and more, can be heard on today’s Morning Wire Afternoon Update podcast. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/podcasts/morning-wire/biden-administration-appeal-twitter-threatens-legal-action-afternoon-update-7-6-23" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Click here to listen</a>. 
1. DOJ Lets Sam Bankman-Fried Off The Hook For Campaign Finance Fraud
The Department of Justice <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/27/business/sam-bankman-fried-campaign-finance-charge.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">will</a> not pursue campaign finance charges against the disgraced former crypto-king Sam Bankman-Fried after the DOJ learned that the U.S. hadn’t obtained permission from the Bahamas to extradite Bankman-Fried on that charge. Bankman-Fried, who ran the multi-million dollar crypto-investing firm FTX, was charged on eight counts, including fraud, money laundering, and campaign finance violations. He was a major Democrat donor. The change in his indictment came late Wednesday night.
Rapid Reaction: Is it any wonder trust in the U.S. government is slow when the infamous SBF gets treated like this by the DOJ? As TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk said, &#8220;There&#8217;s a very real chance that one of the worst scammers in American history will get a slap on the wrist.&#8221;
&#8220;Between the kid glove treatment of Hunter Biden and the unraveling case against SBF vs. the entrapment of MAGA supporters and the relentless pursuit of Donald Trump, the American public is getting a crash course in how their federal &#8216;justice system&#8217; really works,&#8221; he added.
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Did you know that over the past two months, 6 of the 13 charges against FTX fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried have been dropped? There&#39;s a very real chance that one of the worst scammers in American history will get a slap on the wrist.
Then, we have the plea deal for Hunter Biden,…
&mdash; Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) <a href="https://twitter.com/charliekirk11/status/1684603934365847552?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 27, 2023</a></blockquote>
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2. Radical Gender Ideology Hearing
A congressional subcommittee <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/barbaric-pseudoscience-chloe-cole-calls-for-lawmakers-to-protect-children-from-transgender-procedures" target="_blank" rel="noopener">heard</a> testimony on Thursday about radical gender ideology and sex-change surgeries and other procedures. The testimony was emotional for both those who supported so-called “transgender care” for minors and those opposed to it. Among those who testified were Chloe Cole, a detransitioner who received sex-change procedures at the age of 15, an NCAA athlete, as well as a trans-identifying attorney and a mother who has a trans-identifying child.
&#8220;I didn&#8217;t need to be lied to, I needed compassion, I needed to be loved, I needed to be given therapy to help me work through my issues, not affirming my delusion that by transitioning into a boy, it would solve all my problems,&#8221; Cole said.
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Gender transition therapy victim Chloe Cole: &quot;I didn&#39;t need to be lied to, I needed compassion, I needed to be loved, I needed to be given therapy to help me work through my issues, not affirming my delusion that by transitioning into a boy, it would solve all my problems.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/jtHF5vtL2o">pic.twitter.com/jtHF5vtL2o</a>
&mdash; NEWSMAX (@NEWSMAX) <a href="https://twitter.com/NEWSMAX/status/1684586945186500614?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 27, 2023</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;That story is the exception, not the rule,&#8221; attorney Shannon Minster said. &#8220;Vast majority of young people who receive these treatments are getting them after careful assessment and because they really need them.&#8221;
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.<a href="https://twitter.com/ChoooCole?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ChoooCole</a>&#39;s face when Mr. Minter lies and says her story is &quot;the exception, not the rule&quot; <a href="https://t.co/fdtz2d1w8M">pic.twitter.com/fdtz2d1w8M</a>
&mdash; Media Research Center (@theMRC) <a href="https://twitter.com/theMRC/status/1684584006052990976?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 27, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Rapid Reaction: Consider how insane this moment in American history is: A sizable chunk of the Democratic Party believes that not only can men and women change their sex and gender through bodily mutilation, but that minors should be allowed to do so. The Democrats are so adamant in this belief that states are pushing for laws that <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/california-state-senator-warns-parents-to-flee-state-after-gender-affirmation-bill-advances" target="_blank" rel="noopener">strip parental authority away</a>. And now, Congress has to host hearings on the matter in hopes of exposing how barbaric this practice really is.
It&#8217;s a bizarro world out there, for lack of a better term.
3. Supreme Court Strikes Down Gas Pipeline Ban
The Supreme Court has <a href="https://www.kxan.com/news/national-news/ap-supreme-court-allows-construction-to-resume-on-the-mountain-valley-pipeline/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">struck down</a> a ruling from a lower court that prohibited the construction of a 300-mile natural gas pipeline &#8212; being built through Virginia and West Virginia &#8212; from moving forward. This morning, the high court vacated stay orders put in place by the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals. That ruling was opposed by both the fossil fuel industry and the Biden administration. West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin said he is relieved the high court upheld a law passed by Congress and signed by the president. The senator went on to say, “The Supreme Court has spoken and this decision to let construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline move forward again is the correct one.”
Rapid Reaction: Thank goodness for the conservative Supreme Court — and thank goodness for former President Donald J. Trump&#8217;s appointments. As <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/meads-joe-bidens-energy-policy-is-the-embodiment-of-america-last" target="_blank" rel="noopener">previously covered</a>, the Biden administration has effectively done everything to make the U.S. dependent on foreign nations&#8217; energy. It&#8217;s backward and hurting our economy and national security. This is a win for all Americans.
4. Trump Indictment Coming?
<a href="https://townhall.com/tipsheet/spencerbrown/2023/07/27/trump-j6-indictment-expected-n2626281">Former President Donald Trump’s attorneys</a>, Todd Blanche and John Lauro, were reportedly told by the prosecutors in Special Counsel Jack Smith’s office to “expect an indictment” for their client over the events leading up to and during the January 6 Capitol riot. However, Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/110787141696035682">denied</a> this report on Truth Social and said it was a “productive meeting.”
Rapid Reaction: The Witchhunt continues &#8212; what else is there to say at this point? Perhaps the better question is — what is the GOP going to do about this double standard? Another letter? More on that <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=what%27s+the+GOP+doing+dailywire&amp;rlz=1C5GCEM_enUS998US998&amp;oq=what%27s+the+GOP+doing+dailywire&amp;aqs=chrome..69i57j69i64l2.3838j1j4&amp;sourceid=chrome&amp;ie=UTF-8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.
5. Bowe Bergdahl Conviction Vacated
Bowe Bergdahl, the American soldier who was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bowe-bergdahl-has-desertion-conviction-vacated-by-judge" target="_blank" rel="noopener">captured</a> in Afghanistan and later traded for five Taliban leaders in a prisoner exchange, has had his desertion conviction tossed out.  A federal judge said the original case could have been clouded by a conflict of interest.
According to U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton, Judge Jeffrey Nance did not disclose his application to be an immigration judge under then-President Donald Trump. Walton argued that Bergdahl’s trial could then be construed as a conflict of interest because of Trump’s vocal criticisms of Bergdahl and that Nance’s neutrality was “undermined” because “he might be inclined to appeal to the president’s expressed interest in the plaintiff’s conviction and punishment when applying for the immigration judge position.”
Rapid Reaction: It&#8217;s easy to forget how terrible former President Barack Obama&#8217;s foreign policy really was. The Bergdahl swap typified his fecklessness on the world stage.
To listen to the audio version of Afternoon Update, <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/morning-wire/id1576594336" target="_blank" rel="noopener">click here</a>. And for more in-depth discussion of the biggest stories of the day, listen to the latest full episode of Morning Wire every morning.

Sam Bankman-Fried

Rapid Reaction: Major Dem Donor Let Off The Hook For Alleged Campaign Finance Fraud

Bowe Bergdahl

Congress

Donald Trump

Morning Wire

Podcast

Supreme Court

Transgender

U.S.

Bowe Bergdahl, the American soldier who was captured in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/afghanistan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Afghanistan</a> and later traded for five <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/taliban" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Taliban</a> leaders in a prisoner exchange, has had his desertion conviction vacated after a federal judge said the original case could have been clouded by a conflict of interest. 
U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton <a href="https://apnews.com/article/bowe-bergdahl-court-martial-overturned-12da397af78384788a6a09d6499936c0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">vacated</a> the desertion conviction for <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/bowe-bergdahl" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bergdahl</a> this week. Under President Barack Obama, Bergdahl was traded for five Taliban leaders who had been detained in Guantanamo Bay. 
According to Walton, because military judge Jeffrey Nance did not disclose his application to be an immigration judge under then-President Donald Trump, Nance’s presiding over Bergdahl’s trial could be construed as a conflict of interest because Trump had been vocally critical of Bergdahl. 
The judge <a href="https://int.nyt.com/data/documenttools/bergdahl-decision/f32af7e7e7307b1f/full.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> that Nance’s neutrality was “undermined” because “he might be inclined to appeal to the president’s expressed interest in the plaintiff’s conviction and punishment when applying for the immigration judge position.” 
“Namely, the military judge in this case submitted a writing sample along with his application, consisting of an order in which he denied the plaintiff’s [Bergdahl] unlawful-command-influence motion which was based on President Trump’s statements, and ruled against the plaintiff — both actions that a reasonable person might view as serving the president’s interest in this case,” Walton’s ruling said. 
Bergdahl was imprisoned and tortured by the Taliban for five years after walking away from his post in 2009. He said that he was going to report poor leadership in his unit, according to the Associated Press. 
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After the Obama administration negotiated for a trade with the Taliban, Bergdahl returned to the U.S. where he was tried and pled guilty to desertion and misbehavior before the enemy. Bergdahl escaped jail time but was made to forfeit $10,000 in pay and was dishonorably discharged. 
While campaigning for the GOP presidential nomination, Trump <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-defense-bergdahl-trump/bergdahl-lawyer-slams-candidate-trump-over-traitor-comments-idUKKCN0QP29X20150820" target="_blank" rel="noopener">called</a> Bergdahl a “dirty rotten traitor.” Trump also said that Bergdahl’s sentence was not strong enough, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-blasts-bergdahl-decision-complete-and-total-hank-berrien" target="_blank" rel="noopener">saying</a> that it was “a complete and total disgrace to our Country and to our Military.”
Four of the five Taliban members <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/four-taliban-members-released-from-gitmo-in-trade-for-bowe-bergdahl-now-part-of-hardline-afghan-government" target="_blank" rel="noopener">released</a> in exchange for Bergdahl joined the Taliban’s hardline government in Afghanistan after the group took over in the fall of 2021.

Bowe Bergdahl’s Sentencing Continues, After He Pleaded Guilty To Desertion And

Bowe Bergdahl Has Desertion Conviction Vacated By Judge

Afghanistan

Taliban

U.S. Army

Four of the five Taliban members released from Guantanamo Bay by the Obama administration in a prisoner trade for Bowe Bergdahl are now part of the Taliban&#8217;s hardline government in Afghanistan, according to local reports.
&#8220;The four members of the so-called &#8216;Taliban Five&#8217; who have joined the new government are Acting Director of Intelligence Abdul Haq Wasiq, Acting Minister of Borders and Tribal Affairs Norullah Noori, Deputy Defense Minister Mohammad Fazl, and Acting Minister of Information and Culture Khairullah Khairkhah,&#8221; the New York Post noted Wednesday. &#8220;The fifth member of the Taliban Five, Mohammad Nabi Omari, was appointed governor of eastern Khost province last month.&#8221;
&#8220;Wasiq, Fazl and Khairkhah all held positions in the former Taliban government,&#8221; the Post noted, which is why the three ended up on GitMo. &#8220;Wasiq as a deputy intelligence chief, Fazl as army chief of staff and Khairkhah as interior minister.&#8221;
Wasiq “utilized his office to support [al Qaeda] and to assist Taliban personnel elude capture,&#8221; the outlet noted, citing an intelligence report from early on in the Afghan War. He “was central to the Taliban’s efforts to form alliances with other Islamic fundamentalist groups to fight alongside the Taliban against U.S. and Coalition forces.&#8221; Fazl was accused of establishing “operational associations&#8221; between the Taliban and &#8220;significant al Qaeda and other extremist personnel.”
Khairkhah, one of Afghanistan&#8217;s &#8220;major opium drug lords,&#8221; was accused of trying to establish communication between the Taliban and the Iranians, who were reportedly interested in supporting attacks against U.S. and coalition forces.
On Tuesday, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/taliban-names-fbi-wanted-alleged-terror-leader-as-afghan-interior-minister">The Daily Wire reported</a> that one of the FBI&#8217;s most wanted alleged terrorists, Sirajuddin Haqqani, the head of the Taliban- and al Qaeda-aligned Haqqani network and a State Department “specially designated global terrorist,&#8221; was named Afghanistan&#8217;s interior minister.
Bergdahl, <a href="https://www.military.com/daily-news/2020/08/28/court-upholds-bowe-bergdahls-sentence-despite-trump-dirty-traitor-comments.html">Military Times noted</a>, &#8220;abandoned his post in June 2009 on a deployment to Paktika province, Afghanistan,&#8221; and  &#8220;was subsequently captured by the Taliban and held as a prisoner of war for nearly five years.&#8221; The Obama administration orchestrated a prisoner exchange and selected the five Taliban leaders to swap for Bergdahl, even though an assessment recommended the four remain in Guantanamo Bay.
Then-president Barack Obama defended the exchange by noting that the United States &#8220;does not ever leave our men and women in uniform behind.&#8221; Despite his warm White House welcome, though, Military Times reported that Bergdahl &#8220;ultimately pleaded guilty at court-martial to desertion and misbehavior, and was sentenced in Nov. 2017 to a dishonorable discharge, reduction to the grade of private, and forfeiture of $1,000 in salary per month for ten months.&#8221;
The Obama administration was not alone in agreeing to release Taliban prisoners. The Trump administration made a prisoner-swap deal <a href="https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/verify/afghanistan-taliban-united-states-deal-5000-prisoners/536-202b0ae9-6251-44d3-a3d0-b9e7d029aed9">part of its proposed withdrawal agreement</a> with the Taliban, inked last year.
The Biden administration&#8217;s State Department noted Wednesday that it was &#8220;concerned&#8221; with the announcement of Afghanistan&#8217;s Taliban &#8220;caretaker&#8221; government but suggested that it was more deeply worried about the government&#8217;s lack of diversity than members&#8217; affiliations with terrorism.
&#8220;We have seen the announcement and are assessing it,&#8221; a spokesperson said. &#8220;We note the announced list of names consists exclusively of individuals who are members of the Taliban or their close associates and no women. We also are concerned by the affiliations and track records of some of the individuals.&#8221;
&#8220;We understand that the Taliban has presented this as a caretaker cabinet. However, we will judge the Taliban by its actions, not words. We have made clear our expectation that the Afghan people deserve an inclusive government,&#8221; the State Department spokesperson added. &#8220;We will continue to hold the Taliban to their commitments to allow safe passage for foreign nationals and Afghans with travel documents, including permitting flights currently ready to fly out of Afghanistan to agreed-upon onward destinations. We also reiterate our clear expectation that the Taliban ensure that Afghan soil is not used to threaten any other countries and allow humanitarian access in support of the Afghan people. The world is watching closely.&#8221;

Bowe Bergdahl To Be Sentenced After Pleading Guilty To Desertion And Misbehavior

Four Taliban Members Released From GitMo In Trade For Bowe Bergdahl Now Part Of Hardline Afghan Government

In May of 2014, then-President Barack Obama enthusiastically announced a highly controversial swap of five terrorists detained at a U.S. Military prison in Guantanamo Bay (AKA Gitmo) to the Taliban in exchange for Bowe Bergdahl, an Army sergeant who was suspected of desertion at the time and would later plead guilty to the act.
The five terrorists freed by the Obama administration have since joined the Taliban&#8217;s political office in Qatar, <a href="https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2018/10/30/5-freed-from-gitmo-in-exchange-for-bergdahl-join-insurgents-in-qatar-taliban-says/">confirmed</a> Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid to the Military Times on Tuesday.
The men will &#8220;be among Taliban representatives negotiating for peace in Afghanistan,&#8221; reports the Military Times, &#8220;a sign some negotiators in Kabul say indicates the Taliban&#8217;s desire for a peace pact.&#8221;
Alternatively, &#8220;Others fear the five, all of whom were close to the insurgent group&#8217;s founder and hard-line leader Mullah Mohammed Omar, bring with them the same ultra-conservative interpretation of Islam that characterized the group&#8217;s five-year rule that ended in 2001 with the U.S.-led invasion,&#8221; says the report.
&#8220;The Taliban are bringing back their old generation, which means the Taliban have not changed their thinking or their leadership,&#8221; said Haroun Mir, a political analyst based in the Afghan capital. &#8220;What we are more worried about is if tomorrow the Taliban say &#8216;we are ready to negotiate,&#8217; who will represent Kabul? That is the big challenge because the government is so divided, not just ideologically but on ethnic lines.&#8221;
A member of the Afghan government peace council, Mohammed Ismail Qasimyar, &#8220;warned Washington against negotiating peace terms with the Taliban, saying [Zalmay] Khalilzad&#8217;s only job is to set the stage for direct talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban, something the insurgents have so far refused, calling the government a U.S. puppet,&#8221; notes the Military Times. Taliban officials said they met with Khalilzad in Qatar a few weeks ago.
A former Taliban member and current member of the Afghan government peace council, Hakim Mujahed, said the five freed Gitmo detainees &#8220;are respected among all the Taliban. Their word carries weight with the Taliban leadership and the mujahedeen.&#8221;
As noted by the Military Times, all five of the freed Gitmo detainees have disturbing pasts. One of the five, for example, former Taliban army chief Mohammed Fazl, oversaw the murder of thousands of minority Shiites in 2000, according to Human Rights Watch.
And in January of 2015, one of the freed Taliban detainees &#8220;attempted to return to militant activity from his current location in Qatar by making contact with suspected Taliban associates in Afghanistan,&#8221; reported CNN.
Sources &#8220;would not say which of the five men is suspected,&#8221; CNN <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2015/01/29/politics/bergdahl-swap-prisoner-militant-activity/index.html">reported</a>. &#8220;But an ongoing U.S. intelligence program to secretly intercept and monitor all of their communications in Qatar turned up evidence in recent months that one of them has &#8216;reached out&#8217; to try to encourage militant activity, one official said. The official would offer no further details.&#8221;
&#8220;What I can say with confidence is this individual has not returned to the battlefield, this individual is not allowed to travel outside Qatar, and this individual has not engaged in any physical violence,&#8221; said then-White House spokesman Josh Earnest.
<a href="http://time.com/2809352/bowe-bergdahl-deserter-army-taliban/">According</a> to TIME Magazine, six American troops were killed in the hunt to find Berdghal after he deserted his base. The sergeant was dishonorably discharged and fined last year.

5 Gitmo Detainees Swapped For Deserter Bowe Bergdahl Join Taliban’s Office In Qatar

Barack Obama

Terrorism

On Friday, President Trump responded to the farcical decision from Col. Jeffrey Nance in which he let Bowe Bergdahl, who deserted his post in Afghanistan, triggering a search for him that apparently <a href="http://time.com/2809352/bowe-bergdahl-deserter-army-taliban/">led to the deaths</a> of six Americans, go free without serving any prison time.
Trump tweeted:
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
The decision on Sergeant Bergdahl is a complete and total disgrace to our Country and to our Military.
&#8212; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/926492915626663939?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 3, 2017</a></blockquote>
</div>
As Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief Ben Shapiro <a href="http://www.dailywire.com/news/23135/outrageous-deserter-bergdahl-gets-no-prison-time-ben-shapiro">noted</a> Friday morning:
<blockquote>
The rationale for the sentence is unclear, but the judge in the case had commented on it previously: he had stated that he would take into account President Trump&#8217;s negative comments about Bergdahl <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/30/us/bowe-bergdahl-search-attack.html">when considering sentencing</a>. Col. Jeffrey Nance stated, &#8220;I will consider the president&#8217;s comments as mitigation evidence as I arrive at an appropriate sentence.&#8221;
</blockquote>
Trump has been furious about Bergdahl&#8217;s actions <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/president-trump-bowe-bergdahl/story?id=50912155">for years</a>. He tweeted on June 1, 2014, &#8220;President Obama created a VERY BAD precedent by handing over five Taliban prisoners in exchange for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl. Another U.S. loss!&#8221;
At an October 2015 campaign rally, Trump fired, &#8220;You probably can&#8217;t do it, but if I win I may just have him flown back in the middle of that place and dropped, right in the middle. Let them have him, let him have them. That&#8217;s cheaper than a bullet.&#8221;
One month later, on November 9, Trump added, &#8220;In the old days when we were strong and wise, we [would] shoot a guy like that.&#8221;
In August 2016, Trump stated, &#8220;We get Bergdahl, who was a traitor, and they get five of the greatest killers that they&#8217;ve wanted for eight years. We get Bergdahl &#8212; I call it the five for one trade.&#8221;

Trump Blasts Bergdahl Decision: ‘A Complete And Total Disgrace To Our Country And To Our Military’

On Friday, traitorous Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who left his post and wandered into Taliban territory, only to be taken prisoner and held for years, then exchanged for Taliban terrorists by President Obama, received no prison time. That freedom came despite the fact that Bergdahl&#8217;s desertion apparently <a href="http://time.com/2809352/bowe-bergdahl-deserter-army-taliban/">led to the deaths</a> of six Americans who went searching for him. The judge did give Bergdahl a dishonorable discharge, and reduced him to private while giving him a $10,000 fine. Bergdahl had already pled guilty to desertion and misbehavior before the enemy, and <a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2017/11/03/bowe-bergdahl-sentence-no-prison-time-244518">could have gone to prison for life</a>.
The rationale for the sentence is unclear, but the judge in the case had commented on it previously: he had stated that he would take into account President Trump&#8217;s negative comments about Bergdahl <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/30/us/bowe-bergdahl-search-attack.html">when considering sentencing</a>. Col. Jeffrey Nance stated, &#8220;I will consider the president&#8217;s comments as mitigation evidence as I arrive at an appropriate sentence.&#8221; According to The New York Times:
<blockquote>
The judge <a href="https://bergdahldocket.files.wordpress.com/2016/03/findings-of-fact-conclusions-of-law-and-ruling-defense-renewed-motion-to-dismiss-apparent-uci-ae-65.pdf">rejected a request</a> that he dismiss the case or cap the length of the sentence on the grounds that the president&#8217;s comments had precluded a fair hearing. The judge said he had not been influenced by the remarks and that the public&#8217;s confidence in the military justice system had not been undermined.
</blockquote>
So instead of recusing himself, the judge did what the defense wanted and simply let Bergdahl off the hook.
The sentence is as repulsive as Obama&#8217;s decision to trade away top terrorists in exchange for a deserter. Americans lost their lives searching for a man who deliberately left his post; more Americans will lose their lives to the terrorists Obama released in order to return Bergdahl to the country. Now, Bergdahl will go free, with virtually no penalty.

OUTRAGEOUS: Deserter Bergdahl Gets NO PRISON TIME, Judge Cited Trump’s Comments As ‘Mitigation Evidence’

Army Col. Jeffery R. Nance, the judge who will <a href="http://www.military.com/daily-news/2017/10/23/bergdahl-could-get-life-prison-endangering-comrades.html">decide Bowe Bergdahl&#8217;s fate this week</a>, will hear from soldiers who were <a href="http://www.military.com/daily-news/2017/10/23/bergdahl-sentencing-feature-how-search-changed-3-lives-forever.html">grievously wounded</a> in their search for Bergdahl after he deserted his post in Afghanistan. Bergdahl could be sentenced to life in prison after <a href="http://www.military.com/daily-news/2017/10/16/bergdahl-pleads-guilty-desertion-misbehavior.html">pleading guilty last week</a> to desertion and misbehavior before the enemy.
One soldier who was shot in the head in his search for Bergdahl, cannot speak and must use a wheelchair; one cannot use his right hand.
Army National Guard Master Sgt. Mark Allen, who had already served in Iraq, chose to serve again on the front line despite the fact that he could have turned down the opportunity and could have begged off another deployment, a family friend told the AP.
National Guard Sgt. Michael Stokely said, &#8220;He told me that he was coming back to a front line unit because they were going to be deployed and he didn&#8217;t want his guys to go alone.&#8221; Allen had consoled Stokely over the loss of his son in Iraq in 2005.
While searching for Bergdahl in July 2009, Allen, who is married with two children, was shot in the head; he suffered a <a href="http://www.military.com/benefits/veterans-health-care/traumatic-brain-injury">traumatic brain injury</a>. His wife cried in court when Bergdahl pleaded guilty.
Allen was a veteran outdoorsman; he is now confined to a wheelchair and cannot speak. &#8220;If you want to look at the best America has to offer, look at the Allen family,&#8221; Robert Stokely said.

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Jonathan Morita, an Army corporal, was a reservist and Iraq veteran when he joined the search for Bergdahl. A rocket-propelled grenade shattered his hand, leaving him facing multiple surgeries. He ultimately was left unable to bend the thumb or index finger on his right hand. He said, &#8220;Imagine doing things with your three fingers. I can&#8217;t even change the oil on my car.&#8221; He added, &#8220;Every time I hit my finger on something, there&#8217;s only one image that pops in my head, and it&#8217;s him.&#8221;
Morita had a blunt reply to Bergdahl&#8217;s claim that he was unaware such a large search would be executed to find him: &#8220;I manned those missions. I mean anybody who&#8217;s ever watched Black Hawk Down would know that we do that.&#8221;
Retired Senior Chief Petty Officer James Hatch&#8217;s leg was wounded by AK-47 fire as the search team&#8217;s helicopters came under fire in their search for Bergdahl. Yet his lawyer said of Hatch&#8217;s perspective on Bergdahl, &#8220;Senior Chief Hatch has always said he wants him to have a fair trial and a fair sentence, with the understanding of all the suffering that he caused by trying to support his own agenda. &#8230; I did not want Sgt. Bergdahl&#8217;s mother to see her son executed on YouTube.&#8221;
Bergdahl <a href="http://www.military.com/daily-news/2017/10/22/deserter-bergdahl-says-taliban-more-honest-than-us-army.html">recently asserted</a> that the Taliban is more &#8220;honest&#8221; than the U.S. Army, saying, &#8220;At least the Taliban were honest enough to say, &#8216;I&#8217;m the guy who&#8217;s gonna cut your throat.&#8217;&#8221;

WHAT BERGDAHL LEFT BEHIND: One Soldier Shot In The Head, Unable To Speak

<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/bowe-bergdahl-says-returning-u-s-was-tough-captivity-n813041">Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl told The </a><a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/bowe-bergdahl-says-returning-u-s-was-tough-captivity-n813041">Sunday Times of London</a> that the only thing worse than being held captive by the Taliban after deserting his fellow soldiers at a remote post in Afghanistan, was returning home to the United States.
Bergdahl, who pled guilty last week to desertion and &#8220;misbehavior before the enemy,&#8221; told the Times that in Afghanistan he knew what to expect from his captors, but felt ambushed by those who didn&#8217;t understand his rationale for leaving his unit, once he returned to the United States.
&#8220;At least the Taliban were honest enough to say, &#8216;I&#8217;m the guy who&#8217;s gonna cut your throat,&#8217;&#8221; Bergdahl said. &#8220;Here, it could be the guy I pass in the corridor who&#8217;s going to sign the paper that sends me away for life.&#8221;
Bergdahl did not strike a deal with prosecutors, so he awaits an unknown sentence. He claims that he walked off base in 2009 because he wanted to seek out other U.S. soldiers and report wrongdoing within his unit. But Bergdahl was quickly kidnapped by Taliban soldiers and held for several years until then-President Barack Obama brought him home in a prisoner swap.
Bergdahl claims he was tortured and kept in a tiny metal cage.
&#8220;The cage was suspended off the ground and the bars cut into my feet,&#8221; Bergdahl told the Times &#8220;That&#8217;s why I ended up having permanent nerve damage. After the first winter in the cage, I lost the feeling in my feet.&#8221;
Obama&#8217;s decision was controversial, particularly since several other soldiers were wounded when they went out to try to locate Bergdahl as part of a search party.
In addition to being &#8220;misunderstood,&#8221; Bergdahl also says he&#8217;s been hurt by the President&#8217;s tough words; while on the campaign trail, then Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said Bergdahl was a &#8220;dirty rotten traitor&#8221; with &#8220;psychological problems&#8221; who should be executed by firing squad.
&#8220;He&#8217;s a politician,&#8221; Bergdahl said in his interview, &#8220;but I know I can&#8217;t convince the people who say, &#8216;Just string him up and shoot him.&#8217; So you just move on.&#8221;
When asked if he was &#8220;hurt&#8221; by the statements, Bergdahl replied, &#8220;yes.&#8221;

Bowe Bergdahl Says Taliban ‘More Honest’ Than U.S. Military, Returning To The U.S. ‘Worse’ Than Captivity

In May 2014, President Obama, looking desperately for a foreign policy victory, traded five terrorists from Guantanamo Bay to the Taliban in exchange for Bowe Bergdahl, a sergeant suspected of desertion. Bergdahl&#8217;s alleged desertion necessitated the use of American troops to search for him; <a href="http://time.com/2809352/bowe-bergdahl-deserter-army-taliban/">six were killed during that process</a>.
President Obama welcomed Bergdahl himself to the Rose Garden, along with his parents, where he lauded their &#8220;courage&#8221; and the media cast Bergdahl in the role of hero; National Security Advisor Susan Rice, who made a habit of fibbing to the American public on national television during her tenure in the job, told Americans that Bergdahl&#8217;s service was &#8220;honorable&#8221; and added that he served with &#8220;honor and distinction.&#8221; Obama defended his decision by stating, &#8220;I make absolutely no apologies for making sure that we get back a young man to his parents and that the American people understand that this is somebody&#8217;s child and that we don&#8217;t condition whether or not we make the effort to try to get them back.&#8221;
On Monday, Bergdahl pleaded guilty to desertion and misbehavior before the enemy. Bergdahl apologized &#8212; too late for his dead comrades &#8212; and stated, &#8220;At the time, I had no intention of causing search and recovery operations&#8230;.It&#8217;s very inexcusable.&#8221;
All of which utterly undercuts the Obama administration&#8217;s stated reasons for the Bergdahl deal altogether. And demonstrates how they were lying continuously for months &#8212; as they did with the Iran deal, as they did with the Benghazi debacle. The Obama administration never stopped dissembling with regard to their foreign agenda. Bergdahl was no exception.

BREAKING: Alleged Traitor Hailed As American Hero By Obama Administration Pleads Guilty To Desertion

In May of 2014, then President Barack Obama released five Islamic terrorists from the Guantanamo Bay detention facility into Qatar&#8217;s custody in exchange for the Taliban&#8217;s return of Bowe Bergdahl; the Taliban partly operates its international diplomatic operations via representatives in Qatar.

Bergdahl is an army soldier who was deployed to Afghanistan in May of 2009. He subsequently deserted his post in June of 2009, falling into the capture of the Taliban for five years until his 2014 release.

In a <a href="https://www.gao.gov/assets/670/665390.pdf">2014 statement</a>, the Government Accountability Office <a href="http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/GAO-Pentagon-Violated-Law-with-Bergdahl-Swap-272215661.html">concluded</a> that the Obama administration had violated federal law in its &#8220;Bergdahl swap,&#8221; spending monies appropriated for national defense to facilitate the exchange.

As Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton praised Obama&#8217;s decision to release Islamic terrorists in exchange for Bergdahl&#8217;s 2014 release. A spokesman of hers at the time claimed she had &#8220;authorized negotiations with the Taliban that included a transfer for Sgt. Bergdahl.&#8221; Bergdahl&#8217;s American citizenship justified the Obama administration&#8217;s exchange with the Taliban, <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2014/06/hillary-clinton-defends-bowe-bergdahl-exchange-107355">said Clinton</a>, &#8220;whatever the circumstances.&#8221;

The <a href="http://nypost.com/2014/06/03/obamas-swapped-taliban-leaders-sprung-from-gitmo-welcomed-in-qatar/">New York Post</a> reported that the five Islamic terrorists released to Qatar &#8211; dubbed &#8220;The Taliban 5&#8221; &#8211; received a &#8220;hero&#8217;s welcome&#8221; upon arrival in the Islamic Gulf State.

Bergdahl&#8217;s court martial for desertion is <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/03/24/lawyers-for-bowe-bergdahl-file-third-appeal-charging-trump-remarks-taint-trial-prospects.html">scheduled for August</a>. His legal team failed in an attempt to have charges against him dismissed, alleging that comments made by Donald Trump as a presidential candidate in 2016 &#8211; describing Bergdahl as a &#8220;dirty, rotten traitor&#8221; &#8211; amounted to &#8220;unlawful command influence.&#8221;

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FT. BRAGG, NC &#8211; JULY 7: U.S. Army Sgt. Robert Bowdrie &#8216;Bowe&#8217; Bergdahl, 30, of Hailey, Idaho, arrives at the Ft. Bragg military courthouse with his legal counsel for a pretrial military hearing on July 7, 2016 in Ft. Bragg, North Carolina. Bergdahl faces charges of desertion and endangering troops stemming from his decision to leave his outpost in 2009, which landed him five years in Taliban captivity. 
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" alt height="1024" src="https://www.dailywire.com/sites/default/files/styles/wysiwyg/public/uploads/2017/06/bowe_bergdahl_2017_1.jpg?itok=36fn8Zsy" width="751" /></div>
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<div>Six soldiers died in Bergdahl&#8217;s unit following his desertion, with <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/08/us/bergdahl-search-soldiers/index.html">conflicting</a> <a href="http://www.military.com/daily-news/2015/12/24/seal-how-failed-mission-rescue-bergdahl-irreparable-loss.html">accounts</a> <a href="https://serialpodcast.org/posts/2016/10/was-anyone-killed-looking-for-bowe-bergdahl-some-hard-evidence-at-long-last">regarding</a> the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/04/world/middleeast/can-gi-be-tied-to-6-lost-lives-facts-are-murky.html">degree</a> to which Bergdahl&#8217;s abandonment of his post led to their deaths.</div>
At least three of the five released Islamic terrorists have since sought to reconnect with their &#8220;old terror networks,&#8221; according to a <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/03/25/official-at-least-3-members-taliban-5-trying-to-reconnect-with-terror-networks.html">2015 report</a> from Fox News&#8217; Catherine Herridge, citing an unnamed &#8220;government official familiar with the intelligence.&#8221;

Five Arab states &#8211; Bahrain, Egypt, Libya&#8217;s interim government, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) &#8211; <a href="http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/06/05/why-did-several-arab-countries-suddenly-cut-ties-with-qatar/">cut ties with Qatar on Monday</a>, accusing the Islamic Gulf State of materially supporting the Islamic State (ISIS) and its ideological and religious progenitor &#8211; the Muslim Brotherhood. Qatar is also the home of Al-Jazeera, a state-run propaganda outlet with an English-language division.
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<div>Follow Robert Kraychik on <a href="https://twitter.com/kr3ch3k">Twitter</a>.</div>

bowe_bergdahl_2017

FLASHBACK: Obama Sent Taliban Terrorists To Qatar

Hillary Clinton

Islam

Obama Administration

Radical Islam

Radical Islamic Terror

The news has been focused on retired Lt. Gen. Mike Flynn resigning from his position as President Donald Trump&#8217;s National Security Advisor as a result of allegations that he discussed easing sanctions with a Russian diplomat before he was sworn into his position. Naturally, <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/first-read/flynn-s-departure-raises-more-questions-it-answers-n720616">NBC News</a> has ridiculously described what&#8217;s going on with Flynn as &#8220;arguably the biggest scandal involving a foreign government since Iran-Contra.&#8221;
Here are the seven worst foreign-involvement scandals in American history, and neither Iran-Contra nor Flynn reached the list.
1. <a href="http://www.dailywire.com/news/10982/obama-says-hes-had-scandal-free-administration-aaron-bandler">Benghazi</a>. There is no foreign policy scandal worse than the Obama administration&#8217;s fecklessness in allowing four Americans to die in a series of terror attacks at the American consulate in Benghazi, Libya. To make matters worse, the administration attempted to cover it up by lying that the attack was sparked by an anti-Muslim video that nobody had seen when it actually was launched by an al-Qaeda-affiliated terror organization. There is also speculation that the reason for the United States having people at the consulate was so they could <a href="http://www.nationalreview.com/article/438605/hillary-clinton-wikileaks-benghazi-scandal-arm-syrian-rebels-al-qaeda-isis-libya-turkey">arm the Syrian rebels</a>&#8211;which included al-Qaeda and ISIS&#8211;fighting against Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad.
2. The Obama administration&#8217;s <a href="http://www.dailywire.com/news/8148/5-ways-tell-obamas-lying-about-iranian-ransom-aaron-bandler">ransom</a> deal with Iran. They funneled<a href="http://www.nationalreview.com/article/439433/iran-ransom-payment-obama-stonewalls-details-17-billion-tehran"> $1.7 billion to Iran</a> in 13 incremental payments for four Americans imprisoned by the terror regime. The Obama administration left Congress completely in the dark about the details of the transaction; one of the payments involved a plane carrying foreign currency to Iran to <a href="http://www.nationalreview.com/article/438744/iran-ransom-payment-president-obama-broke-law-sending-cash-iran">bypass sanctions</a>. Not only was the scandal a gross breach of separation of powers by using money not appropriated by Congress, it also put a bounty on the heads of Americans worldwide for a regime that has a history of taking Americans hostage.
3. Obama&#8217;s national security advisor, Ben Rhodes, admitted that he lied about the Iran deal to ensure its passage. David Reaboi explained in <a href="http://thefederalist.com/2016/05/09/ben-rhodes-reveals-how-obama-duped-america-into-the-dangerous-iran-deal/">The Federalist</a> that Rhodes gloated about spreading a false narrative about Iran and the nuclear deal through the administration&#8217;s sycophants in the media, smugly stating that the reporters they fed information to &#8220;literally know nothing.&#8221; Thus, Rhodes was able to create &#8220;an echo chamber&#8221; about Barack Obama as the protagonist in a tale where big, bad Iran took a more moderate turn with the election of Hassan Rouhani as president and Obama was able to hammer out a deal to stymie Iran&#8217;s nuclear program. Of course, such a narrative is nothing but a fable, especially since Iran has <a href="http://www.dailywire.com/news/11898/un-reveals-obamas-big-giveaways-iranians-aaron-bandler">repeatedly violated</a> the parameters of the deal and the Obama administration kept granting the terror regime exemptions so they could declare victory. If Iran does in fact develop nuclear weapons, Rhodes will be one of the people chiefly responsible for it.
4. Chinagate. Chinagate is one of the more forgotten scandals from the Clinton administration, and it happens to be the most serious in terms of the country&#8217;s national security. It was reported that the Chinese government, through various figures, donated money to the Democratic National Committee and President Bill Clinton&#8217;s 1996 campaign. Journalist Richard Poe explained some of the details: (h/t: <a href="http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=644">Discover The Networks</a>) (emphasis bolded)
<blockquote>
&#8220;In his book The China Threat, Washington Times correspondent Bill Gertz describes how the system worked. Defense contractors eager to sell technology to China poured millions of dollars into Clinton&#8217;s campaign. In return, Clinton called off the dogs. Janet Reno and other counterintelligence officials stood down while Lockheed Martin, Hughes Electronics, Loral Space &amp; Communications and other U.S. companies helped China modernize its nuclear strike force.
&#8220;&#8216;We like your president. We want to see him reelected,&#8217; former Chinese intelligence chief General Ji Shengde told Chinagate bagman Johnny Chung.
&#8220;Indeed, Chinese intelligence organized a massive covert operation aimed at tilting the 1996 election Clinton&#8217;s way.
&#8220;Clinton&#8217;s top campaign contributors for 1992 were Chinese agents; his top donors in 1996 were U.S. defense contractors selling missile technology to China.
&#8220;Clinton recieved funding directly from known or suspected Chinese intelligence agents, among them James and Mochtar Riady who own the Indonesian Lippo Group; John Huang; Charlie Trie; Ted Sioeng; Maria Hsia; Wang Jun and others.&#8221;
</blockquote>
Basically, the Chinese bought U.S. information on missile and nuclear technology to update its weaponry so that &#8220;China can now strike U.S. targets easily from their bases in Panama, Vancouver and the Bahamas,&#8221; per Poe.
5. Hillary Clinton&#8217;s position as Secretary of State was up for sale through the Clinton Foundation. Chinagate was a precursor to the corruption and sleaze of the Clinton Foundation, where Hillary Clinton&#8217;s foreign policy was influenced by foreign donors and governments and undermined America&#8217;s national security by doing so. The Daily Wire has the details of it <a href="http://www.dailywire.com/news/10280/clinton-foundations-7-worst-scandals-aaron-bandler">here</a>.
6. Ted Kennedy offered to help the Soviet Union undermine President Ronald Reagan&#8217;s policies. The former Massachusetts senator proposed to help established interviews between Moscow and various American TV outlets in order to make the Soviet Union&#8217;s &#8220;peaceful intentions&#8221; well-known. Kennedy hoped that this would weaken Reagan&#8217;s foreign policy toward the Soviet Union; hence setting up an opening for Kennedy to challenge Reagan in 1984. While it may not be known if the Soviet Union ever took up Kennedy&#8217;s proposal, what Kennedy did was far worse than what Flynn did, as Mark Levin <a href="http://therightscoop.com/listen-mark-levin-defends-mike-flynn-from-vicious-attacks-by-the-media-and-the-left/">explained</a> on his Monday radio show.
7. Bowe Bergdahl. During the summer of 2014, the Obama administration announced that it had swapped five terrorists from Guatanamo Bay in exchange for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who was being held by the Taliban. Shortly thereafter, allegations surfaced that Bergdahl had deserted his unit in 2009 for the Taliban and American soldiers had died in their attempts to find him, although the exact number is <a href="http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/379926/did-six-soldiers-really-die-looking-bergdahl-not-quite-spencer-case">unclear</a>. Bergdahl is currently facing charges of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/26/us/army-bowe-bergdahl-desertion-charges.html">&#8220;desertion and misbehavior before the enemy.&#8221;</a> Meanwhile, it is <a href="http://nypost.com/2015/03/25/prisoners-swapped-for-accused-deserter-bergdahl-have-tried-to-rejoin-terror-networks/">believed</a> that the five terrorists that were traded for Bergdahl have attempted to re-enter terrorism, meaning that the Obama administration allowed five terrorists the opportunity to go back into action in exchange for an American solider charged with desertion.
Follow Aaron Bandler on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/bandlersbanter">@bandlersbanter</a>.

Here Are The 7 Worst Foreign-Involvement Scandals In American History

Benghazi

Iran

Nuclear Weapons

According to government documents released on Wednesday, deserter Bowe Bergdahl stated that he left his post in Afghanistan as an act of &#8220;self-sacrifice.&#8221; 
&#8220;So, the idea was to &#8212; it was&#8212; literally, it was a sacrificial &#8212; it was a self-sacrifice thing,&#8221; he <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/bowe-bergdahl-says-he-left-his-post-in-afghanistan-as-an-act-of-self-sacrifice-2016-3">explained</a>.
Apparently, Army Sgt. Bergdahl didn&#8217;t like the way things were being handled by his commanders, so he decided to take matters in his own hands. &#8220;Bergdahl told a general who investigated the case that he hoped to cause an alarm by leaving his post, then walk to a larger base in Afghanistan so he could have an audience with a top commander,&#8221; <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/bowe-bergdahl-says-he-left-his-post-in-afghanistan-as-an-act-of-self-sacrifice-2016-3">reports</a> Business Insider.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
How Bowe Bergdahl decided to leave his post in Afghanistan in 2009 <a href="https://t.co/PwIW34Vea3">https://t.co/PwIW34Vea3</a> <a href="https://t.co/4YJZuJuEv6">pic.twitter.com/4YJZuJuEv6</a>
&#8212; The New York Times (@nytimes) <a href="https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/710459435248971776">March 17, 2016</a></blockquote>
Bergdahl&#8217;s attorney, Eugene Fidell, decided to release the documents to fight negative press and gain favor with the public, adds Business Insider. He failed to recognize that the trope of the sacrificial lamb appears to only work with biblical figures. 
Bergdahl faces life in prison if convicted of all the charges filed against him. Specifically, the desertion charge carries a penalty of five years, maximum.
Bergdahl left his post in 2009. He was released in May 2014 by the Taliban after spending five years in captivity. President Obama negotiated his release after a highly-contentious prisoner swap for five senior Taliban commanders imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay.
After Bergdahl voluntarily deserted his unit, six American soldiers died searching for him. According to <a href="http://time.com/2809352/bowe-bergdahl-deserter-army-taliban/">TIME Magazine</a>, &#8220;The diversion of these men and their units to the hunt for Bergdahl thinned the ranks of U.S. troops elsewhere in the region, contributing to several more American KIAs, U.S. soldiers who were there at the time believe.&#8221;
According to another released document dated July 2015, the Army Sanity Board Evaluation diagnosed Bergdahl with a psychiatric disorder, specifically schizotypal personality disorder.

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