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President has been briefed on 'Biden Four' pardon request, Texas rep says

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UNDER THE BUS YOU GO; Then Vice President Joe Biden shakes hands with then-president Jalal Talabani after proclaiming the Obama administration would seek to reprosecute the case. (AP stillshot capture from 2010 video)

The head of the Congressional Justice for Warriors Caucus said in a recent interview that President Trump has been briefed on the plight of Raven 23 after the caucus sent a letter to him urging full pardons for the four Blackwater guards who got into a deadly shootout with Iraqi insurgents during the height of the Iraq War in 2007.

The four guards, now known as the Biden Four, includes Evan Liberty of Rochester, N.H. Liberty and his three fellow Raven 23 members have already spent more than five years in prison for their part in what Obama officials and the media dubbed the Nisour Sqare massacre. They were convicted in 2014 in the killing of at least 14 Iraqi civilians by a District of Columbia jury.

The four Blackwater guards said they returned fire after being shot at by insurgents dressed as Iraqi policemen.

U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmer, D-Texas, said having the trial in Washington was the first tip that the Obama administration had a big red bulls eye on the four Blackwater guards.

"Those men should've been tried by a military court," Gohmert said. "How can civilians who never stepped onto a battlefield judge such a crime?" he noted.

Instead the prosecution told a cooperating witness who was not from DC to come to Washington to be arrested thereby establishing a false court venue.

Gohmert made the comments during a riveting interview for the podcast Raven 23 Presumption of Guilt co-produced by Gina Keating.

Eight other Congressmen signed the letter urging a Presidential Pardon.

From left, highly decorated servicemen and former Blackwater guards Dustin Heard, Evan Liberty, Nicholas Slatten, Paul Slough, (Courtesy)

Gohmert said the convictions of Liberty, Dustin Slough, Nicholas Slatten and Dustin Heard were far more political than anyone could imagine, and he put the blame squarely on the Obama administration.

He noted that in a brief he received during one of the caucus' investigations into warrior injustices it was found that during World War I, World War II, Korea and Vietnam combined there had been a total of seven convicted of war crimes; in Iraq and Afghanistan there have been 200. He also said wartime rules of engagement under Obama put soldiers at risk.

"America wasn't putting our warriors first, we were putting our enemies first," Gohmert said.

He added that under the Obama administration the military became extremely political, with Obama executing a number of purges of top military generals and admirals who didn't agree with the president.

Those purges, he said, include top military leaders who did not approve of spending defense money on things that had little do with military matters like sex change operations for servicemen and women.

"Even if a general didn't care if a soldier wanted a sex change, they just didn't want to spend military dollars on it that could go for bullet proof vests, they got purged, too," Gohmert said.

Gohmert said when a federal judge in December 2009 dismissed the case while chastising the prosecutors for manipulation of witnesses and withholding exculpatory evidence, that should have been the end of it.

But about a month later there was Vice President Joe Biden holding a joint press conference in Baghdad with the then Iraqi president basically saying they weren't going to abide by the judge's order for dismissal.

"While we fully respect the independence and integrity of the U.S. judicial system, we were disappointed by the judge's decision to dismiss the indictment which was based on the way some evidence had been acquired," said Biden who called Nisour Square "Kisour" as if it were a town or region. "A dismissal is not an acquittal, and today I am announcing the United States government will appeal this decision."

"He basically did a press conference saying, 'We're gonna get these guys,' and son of a gun, they did," Gohmert quipped, adding, "When politics gets involved in justice there is no justice. We're hoping we can get these guys pardoned, and we're gonna keep pushing."

To urge New Hampshire's two senators and Dist. 1 rep to support a presidential pardon use the following emails.

https://www.shaheen.senate.gov/contact/contact-jeanne

https://www.hassan.senate.gov/contact

https://pappas.house.gov/

To write a letter to President Trump urging a pardon. Mail it to the White House through this government portal. A letter suggested by the group "Free Raven 23" is below.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/

President Donald J. Trump
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
Re: The Decorated Veterans of Blackwater's Tactical Support Team Raven 23

Dear President Trump:

I am writing on behalf of four decorated veterans who need your help. These men--Dustin Heard, Evan Liberty, Nick Slatten, and Paul Slough--went to war for our country and served deployments to some of the world's most dangerous regions. Then, after their tours were over, they went back into harm's way as contractors supporting the Department of State's mission to bring democracy to Iraq.

In 2007, while working under Blackwater's contract with the State Department, they came under fire and faced a car bomb threat in a Baghdad war zone. They used the force necessary to do their jobs and come home to their families, only to find themselves convenient targets of a political witch hunt. For nearly eleven years, they have been fighting their way through a civilian justice system that has failed at every turn.

As a result of numerous rights violations during the legal proceedings, one of these men (Nick) is scheduled to be retried (by a second civilian jury) in June 2018. The other three men (Dustin, Evan, and Paul) will be resentenced sometime after that.

I ask that you look into their case. These are good, honorable men who, under stronger leadership, would still be fighting for this country, not against its government. What has passed for justice so far in their case is anything but, and it is time that is recognized through a presidential pardon.

Respectfully,
[Your name]

To listen to Gohmert's comments on a Raven 23/Biden Four podcast go to https://www.buzzsprout.com/389536/3730862-congressional-justice-for-warriors-caucus-offically-requests-presidental-pardon-for-men-of-raven-23

To sign the online petition go to https://www.change.org/p/president-donald-j-trump-mr-president-please-pardon-the-biden-four

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