WASHINGTON ― President Donald Trump has issued a full and unconditional pardon to a former U.S. army officer who was found guilty by a special court martial during the Biden administration for refusing to follow COVID-19 safety measures.
Former Lt. Mark Bashaw, who was discharged from the Army after his 2022 conviction, received the pardon from Trump on May 28, a senior White House official confirmed to USA TODAY.
Bashaw was found guilty by a military judge for violating lawful orders for refusing to work remotely, reporting to office without submitting a COVID-19 test, and not wearing a face mask indoors ‒ measures that were required of military members who chose not to get vaccinated for the COVID-19 virus.
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“I got Courts-Martialed because I refused to participate with lies,” Bashaw said in a 2023 post on X.
Bashaw was the first member of the military to be tried by a court martial over Biden-era COVID-19 rules for the military, which were later rescinded in 2023 when the pandemic subsided. The judge who oversaw Bashaw’s trial declined to punish him but the conviction but gave Bashaw a criminal record that is wiped out with Trump’s pardon.
Bashaw served as company commander of the Army Public Health Center’s headquarters company at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland. A father of three, Bashaw was previously a non-commissioned officer with the Air Force.
Weeks after his inauguration, Trump took executive action in January to begin reinstating service members who refused to receive the COVID-19 vaccine as mandated by the Defense Department under former President Joe Biden. It was not immediately clear whether Bashaw is among those who will be reinstated.
Contributing: Davis Winkie of USA TODAY.
Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump pardons former Army officer convicted in court martial of disobeying COVID rules
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