Crozier was fired for writing a searing letter to Navy leaders notifying them of a spike in cases of Covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, among sailors on the carrier. Modly has argued that Crozier did not follow the proper chain of command in reporting his concerns, which Modly claimed were already being addressed at the time Crozier sent his letter.
Pressed on whether there should have been a completed probe into Crozier’s conduct before his firing — in the same way other relieved Navy commanders had been previously investigated — Esper said „there is an investigation ongoing“ and that it „is not unheard of“ to fire a commander without the benefit of a full review.
„It’s certainly not unique to the Navy,“ he said. „The Navy has a culture of swiftly and decisively removing captains if they lose confidence in them.“
Esper also insisted that President Donald Trump did not order the captain to be relieved of his command, despite a report that Modly told a colleague Wednesday: „Breaking news: Trump wants him fired.“
„This was Secretary Modly’s decision,“ Esper said. „He briefed me about it, and I took the advice of the [Chief of Naval Operations] and [Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley] with regard to it, and told him I would support his decision.“
Addressing Crozier’s firing at White House coronavirus task force press briefing Saturday, the president fiercely criticized the captain’s actions and his letter, which urged „decisive action“ to evacuate the „majority of personnel“ from the carrier.
„I thought it was terrible what he did, to write a letter? I mean, this isn’t a class on literature,“ Trump said, adding that Crozier „shouldn’t be talking that way in a letter.“
Esper declined Sunday to explicitly agree with the commander in chief’s assessment, asserting that he could not „get too much into the facts of the matter“ because of the ongoing investigation.
„This could ultimately come to my desk,“ he said. „I think Secretary Modly laid out very reasonably, very deliberately, the reasons why, and I think when all those facts come to bear, we’ll have a chance to understand why Secretary Modly did what he did.“
Source: politico.com
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