Read: Letter from Brother of SEAL Charged With War Crimes

Navy SEAL Edward Gallagher has become a cause célèbre for Fox News, which interviewed his brother, Sean, in February 2019.

 

(Image: Screengrab of Fox News video.)

The brother of Edward Gallagher, the Navy SEAL charged with war crimes, sent a letter to Congress in which he criticized “the basic stupidity of charging a Navy SEAL with [the] death of an ISIS terrorist,” TYT has learned.

The letter, which was sent to Congress by Sean Gallagher, was provided to TYT by a congressional staffer on the condition of anonymity.

“My name is Sean Gallagher, and I am the brother of Navy SEAL Chief Eddie Gallagher,” the letter begins. “I’m writing to request you sign on to Representative Dan Crenshaw’s letter about my brother’s horrific treatment by the Navy, specifically Navy lawyers.”

The letter appears to take issue with the basic notion of holding a SEAL accountable for conduct in regards to ISIS.

“After nearly 20 years in service to our country, 15 years of those as a Navy SEAL including 8 combat tours to Iraq and Afghanistan, Eddie has been unjustly charged with war crimes for the death of an ISIS fighter,” the letter reads. “Despite the mounds of evidence showing this incident never happened, and the basic stupidity of charging a Navy SEAL with death of an ISIS terrorist [emphasis added], the Navy has locked Eddie away for the past 6 months in a military brig where he has been denied access to medical care and the ability to meet with his legal counsel to prepare for trial.”

Excerpt from letter written by Sean Gallagher to Congress in defense of his brother against charges of war crimes.

(Image: Screengrab of letter provided to TYT.)

“What I meant by that phrase is that Navy SEALs deploy abroad to fight and kill terrorists as our country - you and me - ask him to do,” Sean Gallagher told TYT via email.

Sean Gallagher has had countless appearances on right-wing media in the past few months, including Fox & Friends, America’s Newsroom (another Fox show), Newsmax TV, and Sean Hannity’s radio show.

In February, he met with Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA), which Hunter memorialized with a tweet.

The Navy’s charges against Gallagher include premeditated murder, obstruction of justice, discredit upon the armed forces, and almost a dozen other offenses.

Navy investigators say that in 2017, during an operation in Iraq, a SEAL medic was treating a wounded ISIS prisoner of war thought to be between 12 and 17 years old. Gallagher allegedly walked up and stabbed the teenager multiple times in the neck and side until he died.

According to investigators, two SEAL snipers also say they witnessed Gallagher shoot a girl in a hijab who had been walking with a group of other girls. Other snipers say they saw Gallagher shoot an unarmed elderly man.

Gallagher denies all of the charges.

Sean Ghallagher told TYT, “Eddie is being charged with premeditated murder of an ISIS terrorist who just hours before all the SEALs in his platoon intentionally tried to kill with an airstrike.”

“The SEAL platoon, alongside Iraqi special forces, killed anywhere from 30-50 terrorists with the airstrike, one survived but later died of the airstrike wounds. It is ludicrous Eddie is being threatened with life in prison for 1: false allegations that he stabbed an ISIS fighter who he was actually rendering medical aid to and 2: For killing a terrorist who was firing at Eddie's SEAL platoon just moments before and was targeted with an airstrike meant to eliminate him.”

In late March, President Trump took to Twitter to tweet his support for Gallagher, tagging Fox & Friends’ Twitter handle.

Ken Klippenstein is a senior investigative reporter for TYT. He can be reached securely via Signal at 202-510-1268, on Twitter @kenklippenstein or via email: [email protected].

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