Bergdahl to be court-martialed under new commander-in-chief

FORT BRAGG, N.C. (AP) — A new commander-in-chief will be in charge when Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl is court-martialed in February.

The new trial date set by a military judge today could give the proceedings a higher profile, coming only weeks after the new president – probably either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump – is sworn into office.

The likely Democratic nominee is already being criticized by Trump supporters for supporting the Taliban prisoner swap that brought Bergdahl home after five years in captivity.

Bergdahl's defense team, meanwhile, says the presumptive Republican nominee has already damaged the soldier's chances for a fair trial by calling him a "dirty, rotten traitor" who "should have been executed."

The concern is that a President Trump could influence Army brass to exert "undue command influence" on the trial, said Rachel VanLandingham, a former Air Force lawyer who teaches at Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles.