Pentagon Chief Demands And Gets Navy Secretary's Resignation

PENTAGON, VA – Navy Secretary Richard Spencer is out of a job after his boss, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, demanded his resignation, saying that he had lost faith in Spencer. Esper said the issue was Spencer's handling of the case of Navy SEAL Edward Gallagher.

"Secretary of Defense Mark T. Esper has asked for the resignation of Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer after losing trust and confidence in him regarding his lack of candor over conversations with the White House involving the handling of Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher," the Pentagon's chief spokesman said in a statement.

Gallagher has been a flashpoint for controversy. between the Pentagon and President Trump.

While he was acquitted of murdering an unarmed, wounded ISIS fighter, Gallagher was later convicted of posing with the body of a different fighter who had been killed..

As the Navy has sought to punish Gallagher, strip him of his Trident pin signifying membership in the SEALs, and demote him, they have been thwarted every step of the way. Recently, the Navy had been moving forward with plans to take Gallagher's Trident pin.

When the president tweeted that Gallagher would keep his pin, the Admiral overseeing the SEALs said he didn't consider a tweet to be a lawful order but added if he received an actual order, he would follow it.

On Sunday, Esper learned that Spencer had told the White House that if they let the Navy move forward with the proceedings, he'd make sure that Gallagher wouldn't lose his pin.

Esper says that Spencer never told him of those conversations.

Spencer sent Esper a letter acknowledging that he had been fired, effective immediately.