Former Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer is not going ‘quietly into the night’ after ‘resigning’ from his position. Speaking to CBS News, Spencer says he was fired before he had the chance to resign over the controversy involving Eddie Gallagher, a Navy SEAL convicted of posing with a corpse.
As we told you yesterday, Spencer was fired after Defense Secretary Mark Esper said he went over his head to engage in back channel talks with the White House. Gallagher had been at risk of not being able to retire as a SEAL until President Trump intervened.
Spencer says flatly that he didn't resign, he was fired. His talks with the White House were an effort to allow Gallagher to retire as a SEAL if the President agreed to stay out of it. “I need a formal order to act,” Spencer says. “I don’t interpret (tweets) as a formal order.”
- As for suggestions he had threatened to resign if the President didn’t stay out of it? "I never threatened to resign. I do. I don't threaten," Spencer. "I got fired.”
- Spencer says he formally opened the Trident review board and notified relevant parties last Wednesday. It was the next day that the president tweeted, "The Navy will NOT be taking away Warfighter and Navy Seal Eddie Gallagher's Trident Pin."
- Then came reports that Spencer threatened to resign if the president issued a formal order. Spencer denies that ever took place.
- ONE MORE THING! While Trump has not responded to Spencer’s commentary, he did say during a press op yesterdaythat the decision to kick Spencer wasn’t a recent one. We’ve been thinking about that for a long time,” he offered. “That didn’t just happen.” He did not elaborate. In response, Spencer replied that he doesn't think Trump "really understands the full definition of a warfighter."
Source:CBS News