Appeals Court Restores Bowe Bergdahl’s Desertion Conviction — Rules Federal Judge Had No Authority to Erase Court-Martial Judgment

The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled Tuesday that a federal district court had no authority to overturn former Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl’s military conviction for desertion and misbehavior before the enemy.

Remember Bowe Bergdahl?

He’s the Army soldier who walked off his post in Afghanistan in 2009, left his brothers in a war zone, and triggered a desperate search that cost American lives.

Bergdahl abandoned his post in Afghanistan on June 29, 2009, without authorization. He was subsequently captured by the Taliban-linked Haqqani network and held for nearly five years.

His disappearance triggered a massive search-and-rescue operation that placed other American service members in danger and resulted in several injuries, according to the court.

In 2014, Barack Obama approved an outrageous prisoner exchange that released five Taliban detainees from Guantanamo Bay in return for Bergdahl. Obama then staged a celebratory Rose Garden appearance with Bergdahl’s parents.

The Gateway Pundit reported at the time on Bergdahl’s release and the deeply controversial Taliban exchange.

Bergdahl ultimately pleaded guilty in October 2017 to desertion and misbehavior before the enemy.

Military prosecutors requested a 14-year prison sentence. Instead, military judge Col. Jeffrey Nance sentenced Bergdahl to a dishonorable discharge, reduction to the Army’s lowest enlisted rank, and forfeiture of $10,000, without a single day in prison.

President Trump blasted that lenient punishment as a “complete and total disgrace to our Country and to our Military,” as The Gateway Pundit reported.

In 2023, Judge Walton vacated the conviction after concluding that Nance should have disclosed his application for a Justice Department immigration-judge position. Nance had submitted his ruling rejecting one of Bergdahl’s claims as the sole writing sample accompanying that application.

The Gateway Pundit reported on Walton’s decision at the time.

But the D.C. Circuit did not decide whether Nance’s undisclosed application created an appearance of bias. Instead, it ruled that Walton never possessed jurisdiction to vacate the military judgment in the first place.

Bergdahl had already pursued his case through the Army Court of Criminal Appeals and the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces. Both military appellate courts upheld the conviction.

He then attempted to use a civilian district court to obtain what amounted to another direct appeal.

On Tuesday, the D.C. Circuit finally put an end to Bergdahl’s latest legal stunt.

A three-judge panel ruled that federal district courts have no authority to vacate a military court-martial judgment. Senior U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton’s 2023 order wiping out Bergdahl’s conviction is vacated. The case goes back to Walton with orders to dismiss it for lack of jurisdiction.

Bergdahl’s military conviction for desertion and misbehavior before the enemy stands.

Circuit Judge Robert Wilkins wrote the opinion. Chief Judge Sri Srinivasan and Judge Gregory Katsas joined. Wilkins put it in plain English:

“Because Bergdahl seeks to have his court-martial conviction declared expunged and without effect … he effectively asked the District Court to vacate the military judgment. However, the authority to vacate a court-martial judgment belongs to tribunals exercising direct appellate review, not district courts conducting collateral review.”

Boom! https://t.co/hZejsOWlql

— AAGHarmeetDhillon (@AAGDhillon) September 2, 2026