Bergdahl attorneys request case dismissal citing interference of Sen. John McCain

Attorneys for Sgt. Bowe Bergdhal have filed a motion to dismiss the case against him stating Sen. John McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, has meddled in the case to the point that Bergdhal can’t have a fair trial.

According to a motion filed Monday, lawyers are asking the military judge overseeing Bergdahl’s court martial to hear oral arguments. If the judge will not dismiss the case, attorneys want Bergdahl’s sentence to be limited to no punishment.

McCain has repeatedly commented on the case against Bergdahl and indicated that the Senate Armed Services Committee will hold a hearing if he is not punished in military court.

“If it comes out that [Sgt. Bergdahl] has no punishment, we’re going to have to have a hearing in the Senate Armed Services Committee…and I am not prejudging, ok, but it is well known that in the searches for Bergdahl after- we know now- he deserted, there are allegations that some American soldiers were killed or wounded,” reads in part a statement from McCain included in the motion.

One of Bergdahl’s lawyers, Eugene R. Fidell, accused McCain of exerting “congressional influence” in the case.

The motion to dismiss the case includes statements in which McCain raised concerns about Bergdahl’s military record and expressed interest in “a hearing on Bergdahl and the Taliban 5.’

The charges against Bergdahl were referred in December 2015.