Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw is fighting for the rights of a fellow Navy SEAL officer who is imprisoned in 'abhorrent' conditions as he awaits his war crimes trial.
Edward 'Eddie' Gallagher, 39, is currently jailed in military prison Naval Consolidated Brig Miramar in California on charges of premeditated murder and aggravated assault.
The 14-year Navy SEAL veteran is accused of murdering a 15-year-old Afghan ISIS prisoner in 2017, performing a reenlistment ceremony with the militant's corpse, and firing sniper rounds at civilians during his deployment in Iraq.
Gallagher's prison conditions are reportedly so dire he's allegedly given limited access to food, medical care and access to his legal team, and is jailed alongside convicted criminals, politicians say.
Crenshaw, who lost sight in his right eye after he was injured in an IED explosion during his deployment in Afghanistan, and 17 other House Republicans sent a letter to the Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer this week asking for a review of Gallagher's pre-trial confinement.
Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw along with 17 other House republicans filed a letter to the Navy Secretary this week, fighting to improve the jail conditions of imprisoned Navy SEAL Edward 'Eddie Gallagher'
The 39-year-old has been jailed at military prison Naval Consolidated Brig Miramar in California on charges of premeditated murder and aggravated assault for killings he allegedly committed during his deployment
'Chief Gallagher is a decorated warfighter who, like all service members, is entitled to the presumption of innocence while awaiting court-martial,' the letter said.
'We have received reports that Chief Gallagher’s access to counsel and access to food and medical care may have been restricted.
'Chief Gallagher and other pretrial service members are intermingled with convicts who have been tried at court-martial, found guilty and sentenced to confinement,' the Congress members stated in their letter.
They requested that the Navy reconsider Gallagher's jail site and move him out of Miramar, where he's been for over six months, to 'a more appropriate' location for pretrial confinement.
The letter was signed by Crenshaw, Reps. Mac Thornberry of Texas, Van Taylor of Texas, Pete Olsen of Texas, Jim Jordan of Ohio, Kelly Armstrong of North Dakota, Jim Banks of
