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FORT BRAGG, N.C. (AP) — The Latest on a pretrial hearing in the legal case against Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl (all times local):
11:35 a.m.
The Army general overseeing the court martial of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl says no one influenced his decisions about the case.
Gen. Robert B. Abrams testified Wednesday at a pretrial hearing and faced questions related to a motion seeking to disqualify him from the case.
Abrams says he wasn't influenced by negative comments about the case from U.S. Sen. John McCain. Abrams said he found the senator's comments inappropriate.
Abrams is the four-star head of U.S. Army Forces command who decided to send Bergdahl's case to a general court-martial rather than a lower-level tribunal as an officer who oversaw a preliminary hearing had recommended.
Bergdahl's lawyers contend that McCain unfairly swayed decision-makers on the case by suggesting he would hold a Senate committee hearing if the soldier weren't punished for leaving his post in Afghanistan in 2009.
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3 a.m.
A top Army general is scheduled to testify about why he destroyed letters he received from supporters and critics of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl.
Gen. Robert B. Abrams is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday at a pretrial hearing to answer questions related to a motion seeking to disqualify him from the case.
Abrams is the four-star head of U.S. Army Forces command who decided to send Bergdahl's case to a general court-martial rather than a lower-level tribunal. Abrams has acknowledged that he disposed of letters on the case by sending them to an incinerator.
Bergdahl, who's from Hailey, Idaho, walked off his post in Afghanistan in 2009 and wound up as a captive of the Taliban and its allies until 2014. He faces a court-martial on charges of desertion and misbehavior before the enemy.
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