This is welcome news! An activist judge, District Judge Reggie Walton, had thrown out Bowe Bergdahl’s military conviction. Today a federal court of appeals smacked down Walton’s ruling and reinstated Bergdahl’s conviction.

As our longtime readers know, Bergdahl deserted while serving in Afghanistan in 2017. American soldiers were injured and killed attempting to find him. He was released by the Taliban in 2014, and Obama (while trying to paint Bergdahl as a hero) sent five terrorists back to Afghanistan in exchange. By 2015, he was, rightfully so, facing charges of desertion. 

He was tried in military court under UCMJ law. And found guilty. 

And then Bergdahl had the audacity to sue to overturn his conviction. Which Judge Reggie Walton… NOT a military judge, then overturned in 2023.

Well guess what Reggie? Your ruling just got reversed and stomped on for good measure. 

On Tuesday, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit vacated that decision and ordered the case dismissed, concluding that only military tribunals can vacate a court-martial judgment, according to Courthouse News Service. This reinstates the judgment without deciding whether the claim that led to his 2023 reversal had any merit.

The ruling was unanimous. Judge Robert Wilkins, a nominee of former President Barack Obama, wrote the opinion, joined by Chief Judge Sri Srinivasan, another Obama nominee, and Judge Gregory Katsas, a nominee of President Donald Trump.

I absolutely LOVE that two Obama-appointed judges were involved in this ruling. Sometimes they DO get it right. 

In this case, Bergdahl was trying to claim some idiotic conflict of interest regarding his original trial, and that his 5th Amendment rights were violated.  It’s idiotic because he was tried in the appropriate court. He was an active-duty member of the military who deserted. His court martial HAD to take place in military court because of that. 

Astoundingly, Bergdahl and his attorney also tried to have the entire case thrown out. But today the appeals court put a huge kibosh on his fantasy.

On Tuesday, the appeals court panel found that Judge Walton lacked the authority to vacate Mr. Bergdahl’s conviction and sentence.

The ruling turned on what the panel described as “nuanced questions” surrounding the relationship between federal district courts and military courts.

The authority to “vacate a court-martial judgment belongs to tribunals exercising direct appellate review, not district courts conducting collateral review,” Judge Robert L. Wilkins wrote. “Bergdahl’s claim thus conflicts with that longstanding limitation.”

To sum it up. Bergdahl and his attorney tried to bypass the military courts in order to get not only his conviction overturned, but his case thrown out. 

Bowe Bergdahl was found guilty of "desertion with intent to shirk hazardous duty and misbehavior before the enemy" in a military court and lost his appeals. He sued in DC district court, in part because President Trump disliked deserters. DC granted relief. Vacated on appeal pic.twitter.com/XzqNAGBOow

— Eric W. (@EWess92) September 2, 2026

Reinstating his conviction couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy. 

Feature Photo Credit: Image Courtesy: United States Army, Released into the public domain | Wikimedia Commons