An Obama administration official who asked on Twitter if Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl’s platoon may have been “long on psychopaths and short on leadership” apologized on Thursday.
“While I just wanted to make the point that the public should wait before passing judgment, I unfortunately used my own poor judgment in choosing inappropriate language that many view as disparaging to U.S. service members,” said Brandon Friedman, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Public Affairs at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Buzzfeed reported.
Mr. Friedman, himself a decorated combat veteran with tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, continued, “That was certainly not my intent, and I regret making the comments on my personal account in such a way. I apologize to those with whom I work in the administration, at HUD and, most importantly, to any service members who took offense.”
The “psychopaths” tweet was one in a series that made a much more innocuous point: Individuals should wait until Sgt. Bergdahl’s version of the story is made before jumping to conclusions.
“What if he grew disillusioned with what he saw, didn’t trust his leadership, and walked off?” Mr. Friedman tweeted Wednesday, Breitbart reported. “Legal? No. Worthy of sympathy? Maybe. If that were the case, the soldiers in his platoon would have all the more reason to smear him publicly now.”
Some of Sgt. Bergdahl’s platoon mates have publicly alleged that he was a deserter and that servicemen died looking for him. Sgt. Bergdahl was released from Taliban custody in exchange for five top commanders given to them by the Obama administration.
SEE ALSO: Marcus Luttrell: Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl is a ‘joker’ who cozied up to the Taliban
Breitbart also reported that Mr. Friedman, a top official at VoteVets, a veterans’ organization friendly to the president, scrubbed evidence of his ties to the Obama administration on his Twitter account since the story broke; his employment at HUD and his former position at Department of Veterans Affairs no longer appear on his landing page.
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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