Bryan Mcgrath Navy - Navy spokesperson Capt. Greg Hicks took to the official Navy social media accounts to share an opinion blaming the crew of the USS Fitzgerald for a fatal collision in 2017. Two policemen are still waiting for the day they appear in court. (Navy)
The Navy spokesperson was behind the circulation of an opinion piece shared on official Navy social media accounts, accusing the crew of the USS Fitzgerald in 2017.
Bryan Mcgrath Navy
Captain Gregory Hicks, the Navy's acting Chief Information Officer, confirmed to the Navy Times on Friday that he is directing the article to be shared and quoted in the official accounts last month.
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Lawyers for Fitz's two officers awaiting trial for their alleged roles in the deadly disaster say this is the latest example of illegal influence by command in the court-martial cases against Lt. Natalie Combs and Lt. Col. Bryce Benson. They argue that senior leaders have distorted the judicial process so much that their clients cannot get a fair trial.
Combs was the senior officer in the electronic nerve center of a guided missile destroyer when it collided with the civilian container ship MV ACX Crystal off Japan on June 17, 2017, killing seven American sailors.
The Navy's official Facebook and Twitter accounts shared a comment by retired Navy SEAL captain and defense analyst Brian McGrath on February 8, titled "Fitzgerald's crash: In search of a load," posted on the defense news site War on the Rocks.
Navy tweets quoted McGrath's article blaming the collision at the feet of Benson and his crew.
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In quotes posted by the Navy on Twitter, "Assigning this level of blame to the Commander does not allow the Chain of Command or the 'Great Navy' to get away..." The Chain of Command and Grand Navy cannot always be on board and cannot be expected to provide solutions Individual for individual vessel problems. Leaders are responsible for solving these problems.”
There was some backlash online, with some calling it another case of illegal influence of the regime, and the posts were deleted the next day.
Through Navy spokesperson Capt. Soraya Kent, Hicks declined to say why he directed the opinion piece to be posted on the official Navy accounts on Friday.
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Lt. Col. Spokesperson for Admiral Bill Moran, Vice Chief of Naval Operations. Sean Ecklund said his boss also had no role in publishing or removing the article.
Said Christopher J. Madden, a civilian employee of the Office of Naval Information, said in an affidavit for the Coombs case entered on February 27 that Hicks ordered the publication of the article, and that the order came after Madden had an argument with Ecklund earlier that day. Discussing the virtues of the War on the Rocks essay.
"I have never expressed or asked that the VCNO would like to expand the scope of this content," Madden's statement reads.
Madden and colleague Jason S. said.
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"This is something we've talked about organizationally and in public relations," Hicks said when reached by phone on Friday. "We thought it was a good article expressing some good and decent opinions, and we thought it was something that deserved our focus."
Hicks said the Navy's official accounts have published "other third-party media articles" in the past, but the accounts are largely leadership products.
Hicks said, "I try to do nothing but show what I've read, what I think, and what I personally want to share with friends, family, and members of the media who want to be friends." "I have a private life and I have a professional life."
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Illegal command influence, or UCI, called the "cruel enemy of military justice" by the Supreme Courts, occurs when superiors make words or actions that unfairly affect the outcome of military cases, jeopardize the appeals process, or undermine public confidence in the court. military. Armed forces pretend to change the balance of justice.
Inappropriate comments from military leaders can complicate a fair trial for the defendants because potential commission members could be affected if they knew what their superiors thought of the case.
Twitter and Facebook posts linked to the Navy opinion piece were cited in a motion last month in which Coombs' attorneys asked for his case to be dismissed alleging repeated examples of illegal influence by Navy officials.
The Navy's Facebook account has more than 3 million likes, while its Twitter account has more than 1.1 million followers.
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"The use of official social media accounts to share an incriminating article on Lieutenant Combs is an inappropriate manipulation of the criminal justice process, adversely affecting the fair handling of his case," the lawsuit states. "It does not matter whether this manipulation was intentional or not."
David Sheldon, the civil defense attorney representing Combs, told the Navy Times that it was "surprising" why Pentagon leaders shared these views on official social media while military judges were considering the IAAF's motions.
"I am absolutely amazed that the Navy continues to undermine the prosecution of this case," he said. If they had any sense of justice or righteousness, they would have stopped. It prevents Lieutenant Combs from getting a fair trial."
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Benson's chief attorney, Col. Justin Henderson emailed Richardson's legal team the day the posts were posted, requesting that they be removed.
He noted in his letter that the judge in Benson's trial ruled in December that a series of public statements by Navy leaders about the case gave the appearance of a UCI.
“The repeated statements by (Richardson) and (Vice Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Bill Moran) about the defendant’s private situation, such that an impartial and impartial observer fully aware of all the facts and circumstances cast serious doubts about the event,” Judge Captain Jonathan Stevens wrote in his December judgment. / December "Justice Trial".
"Despite this apparent decision, the Navy has continued to expand its campaign of strategic messages, blaming the collision on (Commander) Benson," Henderson wrote in the email. “Words fall short to describe the inappropriateness of these Tweets.”
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Henderson added that the Navy's shipments not only undermined Benson's presumed innocence, but also ignored the judge's findings and military law that should have prevented the actions.
Several Navy attorneys have filed complaints with the Navy Legal Services Command about the shipments, according to legal filings filed by Combs' defense team last month.
"The quick removal of the criminal post and the tweet appealed to the Navy's guilt over the publication of this post," says one suggestion. “While the case in Lieutenant Combs’ case is still pending, this appalling use of official social media accounts has a real illegal command effect.”
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A neutral member of the public would see such posts and conclude, "Social media posts indicate that Navy leadership threw Combs 'under the bus,' in an effort to shift blame from senior commanders to officers on board," according to the defense team. books.
The motion ends with a request to introduce two senior Navy attorneys and CNO Richardson as witnesses at an upcoming trial.
But in Combs' case filed on Friday, plaintiffs argued that social media posts did not constitute a real UCI and any UCI appearances could be mitigated later.
"CHINFO quickly processed the Twitter post when it unlinked the article the very next day," the submission reads. "The government says there was no actual or apparent impact on the illegal system in this publication."
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Last month, Judge Stevens disqualified Admiral Frank Caldwell, CNO and chief of Naval Reactors, designated as the "unified regulator" to measure punishment in both the Vitz disaster and a similar 2017 collision involving the guided-missile destroyer John. McCain and civilian ship.
Stephens decided that Caldwell was unable to remain impartial in the Benson case, leaving the Pentagon to find a way to reconvene a court-martial already tainted by ISDA allegations involving the Navy's senior uniformed commanders.
Coombs' attorneys are awaiting a similar ruling on the IDF's claims against Caldwell; These lawsuits threaten to remove Caldwell from his case as well.
Jeff is the Chief Staff Correspondent for Military Times with a focus on the Navy. cover
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