Trump is considering pre-emptively pardoning Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher facing court martial over multiple crimes committed in Iraq.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/18/us/trump-pardons-war-crimes.html
“One day, from his sniper nest, Chief Gallagher shot a girl in a flower-print hijab who was walking w/ other girls on the riverbank. She dropped, clutching her stomach, & the other girls dragged her away.”
“He routinely parked an armored truck on a Tigris River bridge & emptied the truck’s heavy machine gun into neighborhoods on twith no discernible targets.”
“Platoon members said he spent much of his time in a hidden perch with a sniper rifle, firing three or four times as often as other platoon snipers. They said he boasted about the number of people he had killed, including women.”
"Two other snipers said, the chief shot an unarmed man in a white robe with a wispy white beard. They said the man fell, a red blotch spreading on his back.”
"May 2017, a SEAL medic was treating a wounded 15 y/o Islamic State fighter. “He’s mine,” Gallagher said. He walked up without a word and stabbed the wounded teenager several times in the neck and once in the chest with his hunting knife, killing him.”
SEAL team 7 members filed formal complaints & called for an investigation about the “shocking acts” they had seen their chief commit. Instead of investigating, platoon members were warned “that speaking out could cost them and others their careers.”
Gallagher texted a friend “I just got word these guys went crying to the wrong person. The only thing we can do as good team guys is pass the word on those traitors. They are not brothers at all.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/23/us/navy-seals-crimes-of-war.html
He is also considering pardoning Green Beret Mathew Golsteyn, accused of killing an unarmed civilian; Nicholas Slatten, Blackwater guard found guilty of shooting dozens of unarmed Iraqis; & snipers accused of defiling a dead Taliban fighter’s corpse.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/18/us/trump-pardons-war-crimes.html
If Trump pardons Gallagher and others like him he is sending a message to US personnel that they can do what they want with no repercussions.
He is undermining military law.