Ex-Green Beret charged with murdering Taliban bombmaker but later pardoned by Trump is refused request to have his Special Forces designation reinstated
- Matthew Golsteyn had asked the U.S. Army to his restore his Special Forces tab after he was granted clemency by President Trump last year
- Golsteyn’s plea to be reinstated was rejected by the U.S. Army in December and he was informed of the decision on Thursday
- He was stripped of his medals and membership in the elite Green Berets after being charged with murder in the 2010 shooting death of a Taliban bombmaker
- Golsteyn confessed to the shooting during a polygraph test that he took for a job interview with the CIA in 2011
- He had been due to face a court-martial in December 2018 before the pardon came through from Trump
A former Green Beret who was charged with murdering a Taliban bombmaker but later pardoned by President Trump has been denied a request to have his Special Forces designation reinstated.
Matthew Golsteyn, a decorated major, had asked the U.S. Army to his restore his Special Forces tab after he was granted clemency by Trump last year.
He had been stripped of his medals and his membership in the elite Green Berets after being charged with premeditated murder in the 2010 shooting death of a Taliban bombmaker in Afghanistan.
Golsteyn’s plea to be reinstated was rejected by the U.S. Army in December and he was informed of the decision on Thursday.
Matthew Golsteyn, a decorated major, had asked the U.S. Army to his restore his Special Forces tab after he was granted clemency by Trump last year
The decision will potentially set up a battle with Trump who gave Golsteyn a full pardon in November.
Golsteyn was given a Special Forces designation and awarded a Silver Star in 2011 after it was revealed he repeatedly braved enemy fire, coordinated airstrikes and came to the aid of a wounded Afghan soldier during his 2010 deployment to Afghanistan.
The Silver Star was due to be upgraded to the Distinguished Service Cross, the military’s second-highest honor, before he was stripped of the medal in 2015 after he admitted to shooting a Taliban bombmaker.
Golsteyn, who was leading a team of Army Special Forces troops at the time of the shooting, was accused of shooting the Afghan man in February 2010.
The man had been detained and questioned over a bombing that killed two Marines – Sgt. Jeremy R. McQueary and Lance Cpl. Larry M. Johnson – but he was later released because of lack of evidence.
Golsteyn later shot him saying he believed he was the bomb maker.
He had been stripped of his medals and his membership in the elite Green Berets after being charged with premeditated murder in the 2010 shooting death of a Taliban bombmaker in Afghanistan
Sgt. Jeremy R. McQueary (left), 27, and Lance Cpl. Larry M. Johnson (right), 19, were killed in an explosion in February 2010. Golsteyn believed the Afghan he killed was responsible for their deaths
He said he believed the bombmaker was a legal target because of his behavior.
Golsteyn confessed to the shooting during a polygraph test that he took for a job interview with the CIA in 2011.
The Army Criminal Investigation Command, acting on information from the CIA, looked into the incident but could never find anyone to corroborate Golsteyn’s claim.
Golsteyn appeared on a Fox News special called ‘How We Fight’ in 2016 during which he said he killed the Afghan because letting him go would have led to additional problems.
His appearance on the show caused the case against him to be reopened and he was charged with premeditated murder by the U.S. military in 2018.
Golsteyn had been due to face a court-martial in December 2018 before the pardon came through from Trump.
Broadcasting his support for Golestyn, Trump tweeted: ‘Mathew is a highly decorated Green Beret who is being tried for killing a Taliban bombmaker.
‘We train our boys to be killing machines, then prosecute them when they kill!’
Golsteyn had been due to face a court-martial in December 2018 before the pardon came through from Trump