U.S. Army/Reuters
The New York Times reported Thursday that a classified military investigation found that Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl twice left his posts without permission prior to his 2009 capture by the Taliban. One incident occured in California and another in Afghanistan. The report concluded that Bergdahl most likely walked away that final time of his own volition, but stops short of saying he deserted. The report does not mention the supposed letter Bergdahl left his unit saying he was deserting, which is what a military official briefed on the investigation told the Times earlier this week.
Also Thursday, the Associated Press reported that the Obama administration told senators this week that it did not notify Congress about the pending prisoner swap because the Taliban threatened to kill Bergdahl if the deal was made public. “They had intelligence that, had even the fact of these discussions leaked out, there was a reasonable chance Bowe Bergdahl would have been killed,” said Sen. August King, an independent from Maine.