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FORT BRAGG, N.C. – Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl will appear Monday before a military judge to learn his punishment for endangering comrades by walking off his post in Afghanistan. But first, the judge will have to resolve a last-minute defense argument that new comments by President Donald Trump have tainted the case.
Bergdahl faces up to life in prison after pleading guilty last week to desertion and misbehavior before the enemy. Prosecutors made no deal to cap his punishment, so the judge has wide leeway to decide his sentence.
The judge, Army Col. Jeffery R. Nance, is expected to weigh factors including Bergdahl’s willingness to admit guilt, his five years of captivity in the hands of the Taliban and its allies, and the serious wounds that several service members suffered while searching for him.
Prosecutors are expected to put on evidence or testimony about soldiers and a Navy SEAL who were seriously wounded by gunfire during these search missions, including an Army National Guard sergeant who was shot in the head, suffering a traumatic brain injury that put him in a wheelchair, unable to speak.
Bergdahl, 31, from Hailey, Idaho, was captured soon after walking off his remote post in…
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