Bowe Bergdahl

"Justice is not rescuing Sgt. Bergdahl from his Taliban captors, in the cage where he was for years, only to place him in a cell," said his defense. But prosecutors say he must be held responsible.

"It was never my intention for anyone to be hurt, and I never expected that to happen," the army sergeant said during an unsworn statement at a military hearing in Fort Bragg, N.C.

Mlitary prosecutors have called on several current and former service members who looked for Bergdahl in the days immediately after he walked away from his post in Afghanistan.

A military judge is allowing the testimony of service members who were injured as a direct result of the searches for Bergdahl, who was captured by the Taliban and held for five years.

The Army judge, Col. Jeffrey Nance, posed the question of whether the sergeant could receive a fair trial after comments made by the president, who has repeatedly called Bergdahl a traitor.

Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who was held by the Taliban from 2009 to 2014 after leaving his base in Afghanistan, has pleaded guilty to desertion and misbehavior.

But he, and others in the Trump campaign, may have violated other laws.

Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl is charged with desertion and misbehavior before the enemy for leaving his base in Afghanistan. He spent years in Taliban captivity. President Trump has called him a "traitor."

The White House is flooded with last-ditch requests for clemency by several prominent applicants including NSA leaker Edward Snowden and former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

In his first appearance before a military judge on charges of desertion and misbehavior before the enemy, Bergdahl did not enter a plea. "The accused wishes to defer for reflection," his lawyer said.

Bergdahl, who was held by the Taliban for five years after he left his base in Afghanistan in 2009, could be sentenced to life in prison.