President Donald Trump announced Dec. 16 that he will review the case of a former U.S. Army Green Beret charged with the murder of an alleged terrorist bomb-maker during a deployment in Afghanistan in 2010.
Maj. Matthew Golsteyn has twice admitted to shooting an Afghan man he suspected was a bomb-maker for the Taliban terrorist group—first during a job interview with the CIA and then again in an interview with Fox News.
Golsteyn’s charges had previously been dismissed through an administrative process, according to his attorney, Phillip Stackhouse. But a spokesman for the U.S. Army Special Operations Command said in a statement that “Golsteyn’s immediate commander has determined that sufficient evidence exists to warrant the preferral of charges against him.”“At the request of many, I will be reviewing the case of a ‘U.S. Military hero,’ Major Matt Golsteyn, who is charged with murder,” Trump wrote on Twitter on Dec. 16. “He could face the death penalty from our own government after he admitted to killing a Terrorist bomb maker while overseas.”
Stackhouse thanked the president in a Twitter message and vowed to fight “relentlessly” to defend his client. Golsteyn could face the death penalty if convicted.“MAJ Golsteyn is a humble servant-leader who saved countless lives, both American and Afghan, and has been recognized repeatedly for his valorous actions. We will be relentless in defending him,” Stackhouse wrote on Twitter on Dec. 16.
