Richard V. Spencer has been terminated as secretary of the Navy after his handling of the case of a Navy SEAL accused of war crimes came under rebuke by the defense secretary.
"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 Defense Department said in a statement on Sunday.
In a letter to the White House, Spencer wrote: "I hereby acknowledge my termination as U.S. Secretary of the Navy to be effective immediately. The President deserves a Secretary of the Navy who is aligned with his views for the future of the force."
Gallagher is the Navy SEAL who was acquitted by a military jury in San Diego of murdering a wounded Islamic State militant in Iraq in 2017 but was later convicted of posing with the body of the dead prisoner.
According to the Pentagon statement, Esper learned Friday that Spencer had privately made an offer to the White House to allow Gallagher to retire as a Navy SEAL with his Trident insignia. The Washington Post reports that the proposal was conditioned on the Trump administration agreeing not to interfere in the proceedings against Gallagher.