Mathew L. Golsteyn

Major Mathew L. Golsteyn is a United States Army officer who served in the War in Afghanistan. He was charged with murder after killing an Afghan civilian in Marjah, who he claims was a bomb maker for the Taliban. Golsteyn's case came to prominence after U.S. President Donald Trump said that he would review Maj. Golsteyn's case.[1][2][3][4] Golsteyn was pardoned on 15 November 2019, causing controversy.

Matthew Golsteyn
AllegianceUnited States of America
Service/branchUnited States Army
Years of service2002-2015
RankMajor
AwardsSilver Star (revoked in 2015)
National Defense Service Medal
Afghanistan Campaign Medal
Army Service Ribbon
NATO Medal for ISAF
Special Forces Tab
4 Service stripes

Early life

Golsteyn grew up in Central Florida, where he attended Trinity Preparatory School[5]; as a student he was quarterback of the football team[6], which was coached by his father[7], former NFL player Jerry Golsteyn.

Military career
Golsteyn greeting President Donald Trump in December 2019

Golsteyn graduated from the United States Military Academy in 2002. He was commissioned into the army as a second lieutenant and later attended Special Forces Selection. He served in the 3rd Special Forces Group. In 2011, then Captain Golsteyn was awarded a Silver Star, for actions in February 2010. In 2013 the Army reopened an investigation into Golsteyn resulting in the award being revoked in 2015 for a violation of rules of engagement for an incident dating back to 2010.[8][9]

Killing of alleged Afghan bomb-maker

In 2010 Golsteyn was part of Operation Moshtarak, a campaign to liberate the town of Marjah, Helmand Province, from the Taliban. In February, a bomb killed two Marines who had been working under Golsteyn's command. Golsteyn and his team searched the nearby village for the bomb-maker, whom they believed was a local named Rasoul. A tribal leader alleged that Rasoul was a member of the Taliban. According to the Army, the leader did not want Rasoul released and feared that if he was released, he would kill the tribal leader. He allegedly admitted to the killing as part of a lie detector test taken during a CIA job interview in 2011. It was also reported that in the interview with the CIA, Golsteyn claimed that another soldier had later taken the alleged bomb-maker off base, and then shot and killed him, and Golsteyn later helped burn the body. After this revelation, the Army investigated the case, but closed it with no charges in 2013.[3][10]

In November 2016, Golsteyn was a guest on a Fox News show. Asked by host Bret Baier if he had killed the suspected bomb-maker, Golsteyn responded "yes". Golsteyn's admission led to the Army reopening the case.[10]

Presidential pardon
Official pardon of Golsteyn on November 15, 2019

Golsteyn made national news when U.S. President Donald Trump announced that he would review Golsteyn's case.[11]

On November 15, 2019, President Donald Trump signed a pardon for Golsteyn; it resulted in the dropping of all charges.[12]

The following month, Lieutenant General Francis Beaudette, the commander of U.S. Army Special Operations Command, denied a request by Golsteyn to have his Special Forces Tab reinstated.[13] The service will next have an administrative panel determine whether it should reinstate the Special Forces Tab and a Distinguished Service Cross, and expunge a letter of reprimand Golsteyn received.[14]

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See also

References
  1. Thomas Gibbons-Neff (2018-12-14). "Army Charges Special Forces Soldier in 2010 Killing of Afghan". The New York Times. Washington, DC. p. A9. Archived from the original on 2018-12-17. The accusations against the soldier, Maj. Mathew L. Golsteyn, are the latest chapter in a winding story that began after he told the Central Intelligence Agency — during a job interview in 2011 — that he had killed a suspected Afghan bomb maker a year earlier, during the battle for the city of Marja in Afghanistan’s volatile Helmand Province.
  2. Helene Cooper, Michael Tackett and Taimoor Shah (2018-12-16). "Twist in Green Beret's Extraordinary Story: Trump's Intervention After Murder Charges". The New York Times. Washington, DC. p. A1. Archived from the original on 2018-12-17. With that tweet, Mr. Trump made another extraordinary intervention into the American judicial system. A president who just last week threatened to stop a Justice Department effort to extradite a Chinese tech executive and who spends most days vilifying the special counsel had now stepped into a complicated legal and ethical case that goes to the heart of the fraught politics of the military’s rules of engagement.
  3. "Trump 'to review' Mathew Golsteyn Afghan murder case". BBC News. 2018-12-16. Archived from the original on 2018-12-16. Retrieved 2018-12-17. It is unclear what the president meant when he posted the tweet. However, as Commander in Chief of the US armed forces, any intervention by Mr Trump could count as unlawful command influence, and might mean the case against Maj Golsteyn is thrown out.
  4. South, Todd (2018-12-18). "Trump said he'll review the case against an Army Green Beret charged with murder. This is what could happen". Army Times. Retrieved 2018-12-21.
  5. "Lost Alumni - Trinity Prep". www.trinityprep.org. Retrieved 2019-12-10.
  6. Staff, BILL BUCHALTER and SCOTT KAUFFMAN of The Sentinel. "APOPKA AT LAKE BRANTLEY". OrlandoSentinel.com. Retrieved 2019-12-10.
  7. Staff, BILL BUCHALTER and SCOTT KAUFFMAN of The Sentinel. "APOPKA AT LAKE BRANTLEY". OrlandoSentinel.com. Retrieved 2019-12-10.
  8. Lamothe, Dan (February 4, 2015). "Army revokes Silver Star award for Green Beret officer, citing investigation". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on February 4, 2015. Retrieved February 7, 2015.
  9. Lamothe, Dan (February 6, 2015). "CIA job interview leads to criminal investigation of Green Beret". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on February 8, 2015. Retrieved February 7, 2015.
  10. Cooper, Helene; Tackett, Michael; Shah, Taimoor (2018-12-16). "Twist in Green Beret's Extraordinary Story: Trump's Intervention After Murder Charges". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2018-12-19. Retrieved 2018-12-21.
  11. Geoffrey S. Corn; Rachel E. VanLandingham (Dec 21, 2018). "Let military justice system decide if Major Matthew Golsteyn is a victim or murderer". USA TODAY. Archived from the original on December 21, 2018. Retrieved 2018-12-21.
  12. Melissa Leon, Lucas Tomlinson (November 15, 2019). "Trump grants clemency to 2 Army officers accused of war crimes, restores rank to Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher". Fox News. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
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