Navy Seal Eddie Gallagher responds to NYT videos of teammates’ interviews
Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher said his former teammates are lying about him in new videos obtained by The New York Times. The leaked videos are reportedly from 2018 interviews of Gallagher's former SEAL Team 7 teammates and the investigation into allegations of war crimes during his time in Iraq.
FILE – In this July 2, 2019, file photo, Navy Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher leaves a military court on Naval Base San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)
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UPDATED 1:00 PM PT — Friday, December 27, 2019
Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher said his former teammates are lying about him in new videos obtained by The New York Times. The leaked videos are reportedly from 2018 interviews of Gallagher’s former SEAL Team 7 teammates and the investigation into allegations of war crimes during his time in Iraq.
In the interviews, SEAL team members said Gallagher was a “toxic” man who was “okay with killing anybody that was moving.”
A trove of leaked video interviews of Navy SEALS telling investigators about their commander, Eddie Gallagher. "The guy is freaking evil, man." "You could tell he was perfectly OK w killing anybody." "He's a psychopath." "He just got crazier and crazier" https://t.co/G0r2GGT3vj
— Ellen Barry (@EllenBarryNYT) December 27, 2019
At least one SEAL said he didn’t view the ISIS fighter, who Gallagher allegedly stabbed, as a threat. When asked whether Gallagher attempted to reason with the fighter, Navy SEAL Corey Scott responded, “He just pulled out a knife and started stabbing him.”
During his trial in July, Gallagher was acquitted of the most serious charges, but he was found guilty of posing for a photograph with the body. His attorney pointed out the jury had heard evidence from both sides and proceeded to drop every single serious charge. The attorney added that this was “enough said.”
In a statement, Gallagher said his first reaction was “surprise and disgust” that they would “make up blatant lies about me.” He said he “quickly realized that they were scared that the truth would come out of how cowardly they acted on deployment.”
“I felt sorry for them, that they thought it necessary to smear my name, but they never realized what the consequences of their lies would be. As upset as I was, the videos also gave me confidence because I knew that their lies would never hold up under real questioning and the jury would see through it. Their lies and NCIS’s refusal to ask hard questions or corroborate their stories strengthened my resolve to go to trial and clear my name.”
– Eddie Gallagher, United States Navy SEAL Special Warfare Operator
This undated selfie provided by Andrea Gallagher shows her husband, U.S. Navy SEAL Edward Gallagher. (Edward Gallagher/Courtesy of Andrea Gallagher via AP, File)
A Navy board considered stripping him of his SEAL status until President Trump intervened.
“They wanted to take his pin away and I said, ‘No, you’re not going to take it away.’ He was a great fighter. He was one of the ultimate fighters. These are not weak people, these are tough people. And we’re going to protect our war fighters.”
– Donald Trump, 45th President of the United States
The president continued to show support for Gallagher and recently invited him to his Mar-a-Lago resort for the holidays.
Reports late last month said Gallagher was set to retire from the Navy.
FILE – In this Thursday, May 30, 2019, file photo, U.S. Navy Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher, left, hugs his wife, Andrea Gallagher, after leaving a military courtroom on Naval Base San Diego, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Julie Watson, File)