Chief Eddie Gallagher: Navy SEAL Court-Martial, Verdict, and Aftermath

The court-martial of Navy SEAL Chief Edward “Eddie” Gallagher ended on July 2, 2019, when a military jury at Naval Base San Diego acquitted him of murdering a wounded teenage ISIS captive in Mosul and cleared him of every other serious charge, convicting him only of posing for a photograph with the dead captive’s body.¹ The case became one of the most politically charged military prosecutions in recent memory, shaped by a courtroom confession from another SEAL, prosecutorial misconduct that got the lead prosecutor removed, and a series of interventions by President Donald Trump that culminated in the firing of the Secretary of the Navy.

What Gallagher Was Accused Of

The allegations came from inside his own platoon. During Alpha Platoon’s 2017 deployment to Mosul, seven of the platoon’s twenty-two members reported Gallagher’s conduct up the chain of command.² The central incident occurred on May 3, 2017, when Gallagher allegedly stabbed a wounded teenage ISIS fighter who was being treated by the platoon’s medics. Fellow SEALs also accused him of firing his sniper rifle at Iraqi civilians on multiple occasions and of placing SEALs and Iraqi partner forces in unnecessary danger. Platoon members who later testified called him a “cancer” to the organization and said they feared his methods would follow him into future leadership roles.³

Members of the platoon said they had raised the matter with their platoon leader, Lt. Jake Portier, while still in Iraq. Portier reportedly told them it was “being handled” through the troop commander, and they waited months believing the reporting process was underway.²

The Charges

Gallagher was arrested on September 11, 2018, while receiving treatment for a traumatic brain injury at Camp Pendleton.⁴ He was charged with:

Premeditated murder of the wounded ISIS captive
Attempted murder in the shootings of two Iraqi civilians
Unlawful discharge of a firearm at noncombatants
Wrongfully posing with a human casualty
Impeding an investigation
Retaliating against those who reported him
Possession of a controlled substance⁵

Gallagher maintained his innocence throughout. His defense was that disgruntled subordinates who resented his aggressive leadership style were framing him.⁶

Pretrial Misconduct That Reshaped the Case

The prosecution took heavy damage before opening arguments. Defense attorney Timothy Parlatore accused NCIS lead investigator Joseph Warpinski of “cherry-picking” witness statements to support a predetermined conclusion of guilt while suppressing evidence favorable to Gallagher. The defense also alleged that later witness interviews were not recorded and that reports were reconstructed from the investigator’s personal notes, which were never turned over.⁷

Then, in June 2019, the defense disclosed that lead prosecutor Navy Cmdr. Christopher Czaplak had embedded digital tracking software in emails sent to defense attorneys and a journalist covering the case. The code was hidden beneath Czaplak’s email signature, inside a logo of an American flag and a bald eagle. Prosecutors said the tracking was intended to identify the source of leaked court documents. Military judge Capt. Aaron Rugh removed Czaplak from the case on June 3, 2019, citing a “potential conflict of interest,” and also ordered Gallagher released from pretrial custody, finding that prosecutorial interference had violated his right to a fair trial.⁸

Gallagher had spent roughly seven months in pretrial confinement. In March 2019, President Trump had already intervened to move him to less restrictive conditions.⁹

Inside the Trial

The court-martial ran roughly three weeks at Naval Base San Diego. The prosecution built its case on testimony from Alpha Platoon members who had witnessed Gallagher’s conduct in Mosul. Craig Miller, the platoon’s second-in-command, testified that he reported the stabbing to his superior. Sniper Dylan Dille, who left the Navy in August 2018, testified that Gallagher once warned him: “I know you guys are talking about what happened. If you stop talking about it, then I’ll stop talking about it.”¹⁰

The Corey Scott Reversal

On June 20, 2019, the trial’s decisive moment arrived. Special Warfare Operator 1st Class Corey Scott, a SEAL medic testifying under a grant of immunity, confirmed on direct examination that Gallagher had stabbed the teenage captive in the neck. Then on cross-examination he told the courtroom that he, not Gallagher, had killed the prisoner. Scott said he blocked the teenager’s breathing tube after the stabbing, watched him die, and called it an “act of mercy.” He testified: “I knew he was going to die anyway, and I wanted to save him from waking up to whatever would happen to him” at the hands of Iraqi security forces.¹¹

Prosecutors accused Scott of lying to shield his former platoon leader, noting he had never mentioned suffocating the prisoner in earlier statements to investigators. Asked about his motive, Scott responded: “He’s got a wife and family. I don’t think he should be spending his life in prison.”¹²

Because Scott’s immunity deal barred prosecutors from using his own confession against him, and because no autopsy had been performed on the captive’s body, there was little independent evidence to contradict his account. Scott was the only person present for the prisoner’s final moments. Military and federal prosecutors were unlikely to charge him with murder, though he remained subject to potential perjury prosecution.¹³

Verdict and Sentence

On July 2, 2019, the jury acquitted Gallagher of murder, attempted murder, and all other serious charges. He was convicted on one count: wrongfully posing for an unofficial photograph with a human casualty.¹

The next day he was sentenced to:

Reduction in rank from chief petty officer (E-7) to petty officer first class (E-6)
Four months of confinement
Forfeiture of two months of pay, totaling nearly $5,400¹⁴

Because he had already served roughly seven months in pretrial custody, the confinement portion required no additional time behind bars.¹⁴

Trump’s Interventions and the Firing of the Navy Secretary

The conviction did not settle the case. In November 2019, President Trump ordered the Navy to restore Gallagher’s rank to chief petty officer. That reversal allowed Gallagher to retire as a SEAL and retain an estimated $200,000 in pension funds that would have been forfeited at the lower rank.¹⁵

Rear Adm. Collin Green, commander of Naval Special Warfare, then initiated a Trident review board to decide whether Gallagher should keep his status as a SEAL. On November 20, 2019, Gallagher was notified that the board would convene on December 2. The next morning, Trump tweeted: “The Navy will NOT be taking away Warfighter and Navy Seal Eddie Gallagher’s Trident Pin.” On November 24, Trump ordered Defense Secretary Mark Esper to ensure Gallagher kept his Trident, ending the review process.¹⁶

That same day, Esper fired Navy Secretary Richard Spencer. According to the Pentagon, Spencer had made a private proposal to the White House, without Esper’s knowledge, offering to let Gallagher retire with his Trident if the White House allowed the review board to proceed. When Esper learned of the back-channel arrangement from senior White House staff, he concluded Spencer had shown a “lack of candor.”¹⁷

In his resignation letter, Spencer wrote: “I cannot in good conscience obey an order that I believe violates the sacred oath I took… to support and defend the Constitution of the United States.” He said he and the president no longer shared the same understanding regarding “the key principle of good order and discipline.”¹⁸ Esper then directed that Gallagher keep his Trident, and Undersecretary Thomas Modly became acting Navy secretary.¹⁹

What Happened After the Case

Gallagher retired from the Navy as a SEAL with his rank and pension intact. He later released a video publicly identifying SEAL teammates who had testified against him and their current military units, calling them “cowards.” Naval Special Warfare Command noted that it does not identify special operators by name in order to protect them, their families, and mission integrity.²⁰

In 2020, Eddie and his wife Andrea founded the Pipe Hitter Foundation, a nonprofit providing financial and advocacy support to service members and first responders involved in legal proceedings. Andrea serves as president and Eddie as director. The organization reports having invested more than $3.7 million since its inception and holds a four-star Charity Navigator rating.²¹ The couple also co-authored a memoir, The Man in the Arena: From Fighting ISIS to Fighting for My Freedom.²²

Defense attorney Tim Parlatore later joined Donald Trump’s personal legal team, where he played a central role in the investigation into Trump’s handling of classified documents, organizing searches of Trump’s properties and testifying before the grand jury in December 2022. He left the Trump team in May 2023.²³ As of late 2025, Parlatore was serving on the staff of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth as his longtime personal attorney.²⁴ As of 2026, Gallagher runs a business entity called Gallagher Holdings LLC, offers training programs, and co-hosts a podcast called Shoot Me Straight.²⁵

1
ABC News. Navy SEAL Edward Gallagher Acquitted of Killing ISIS Prisoner
2
Task and Purpose. Eddie Gallagher War Crimes
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NPR. Journalist: Eddie Gallagher Case Reveals a War for the Soul of the Navy SEALs
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ABC News. Wife of Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher on Trial for Murdering ISIS Captive
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PBS NewsHour. Navy SEAL Gallagher Cleared of Most Charges
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PBS NewsHour. Why Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher Was Found Not Guilty of Murdering Iraqi Captive
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Navy Times. Prosecutors, NCIS Investigator Accused of Misconduct in War Crimes Case
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NPR. Judge Removes Lead Prosecutor in Navy SEAL War Crime Case
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FOX 5 San Diego. Wife Speaks About Navy SEAL’s Release From Brig Ahead of War Crimes Trial
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CNN. Edward Gallagher Trial Testimony
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NPR. Shocking Revelation in Navy SEAL War Crimes Trial
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PBS NewsHour. Medic in Navy SEAL Case Takes Blame for Killing Islamic State Fighter
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Navy Times. Thanks to SEALs Immunity Deals, Confessed Killer Unlikely to Be Charged
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Reuters. U.S. Navy SEAL Spared Jail but Demoted After War Crimes Trial
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The Guardian. Eddie Gallagher Trump Meeting Navy SEAL War Crimes
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NPR. Defense Secretary Says Trump Ordered Him to Let Eddie Gallagher Retire as Navy SEAL
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NBC News. Navy Secretary Richard Spencer Fired in Dispute Over Discipline of SEAL
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BBC News. Navy Secretary Richard Spencer Fired Over Navy SEAL Case
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ABC News. Pentagon Chief Mark Esper Asks Navy Secretary Richard Spencer to Resign
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ABC News. Eddie Gallagher Video Blasts SEAL Teammates
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Pipe Hitter Foundation. Pipe Hitter Foundation Homepage
22
Federal News Network. Navy SEAL Chief (Ret.) Eddie Gallagher: The Man in the Arena
23
ABC News. Top Trump Attorney Played Role in DOJ’s Documents Probe
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Washington Post. Hegseth Media Restrictions Tim Parlatore
25
The Eddie Gallagher. Eddie Gallagher Official Site