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Bergdahl Defense Attorneys May Depose Donald Trump

Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl
U.S. Army

Attorneys for Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl are waiting to hear from Donald Trump regarding his campaign-trail remarks about Bergdahl's case.

Attorney Gene Fidell told TPR News on Sunday that Trump has been criss-crossing the country making comments about Bergdahl and that he should make time in his schedule to answer a legal request from the Army. 

Trump told supporters in Last Vegas last October that 30 years ago, Bergdahl would have been shot. 

Two months earlier, as shown in a WSJ video, Trump told a Town Hall gathering in New Hampshire, "We get a traitor named Bergdahl, a dirty, rotten traitor, who, by the way, when he deserted, six young, beautiful people were killed trying to find him."

Bergdahl faces a court-martial on charges of desertion and misbehavior before the enemy for leaving his post in Afghanistan. If he's found guilty, Bergdahl could spend the rest of his life in prison. 

In a letter on Army stationery and sent by registered mail to Trump at his New York office, defense attorney Lt. Col. Franklin Rosenblatt requested an interview with Trump "as soon as possible."

"Based on your personal knowledge of matters that are relevant to Sgt. Bergdahl's right to a fair trial," Rosenblatt wrote. He said the interview would determine the next step the defense must take - either to seek a deposition or Trump's personal appearance as a witness in the case. 

Fidell copied the media on the defense team's letter and said Sunday that he had not yet heard from Trump.

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Eileen Pace is a veteran radio and print journalist with a long history of investigative and feature reporting in San Antonio and Houston, earning more than 50 awards for investigative reporting, documentaries, long-form series, features, sports stories, outstanding anchoring and best use of sound.