WASHINGTON — The lawyer selected to be the Army‘s first top prosecutor of sexual assaults under an overhaul of the military justice system has been fired because of an email he sent 10 years ago appearing to belittle victims’ assault allegations.
Brig. Gen. Warren Wells was removed from the job on Friday by Army Secretary Christine Wormuth, just hours after she was given the email.
Wells was the Army’s new lead special trial counsel for cases involving sexual assault and other top crimes — a job created as part of Congress’ push to revamp a military justice system it believed could be overly deferential to service members accused of sexual misconduct. The office was expected to begin work around the end of the year.
In the email, sent to a number of his staff members in June 2013, Wells complained about what he said were false allegations by some alleged victims, pointing to the firing of an Army two-star general in Japan for failing to properly investigate a sexual assault charge in his command.
Wells, who was a lieutenant colonel and the Army’s defense counsel for the Great Plains region in Kansas at the time, told his staff that “you and your teams are now the ONLY line of defense against false allegations and sobriety regret.” He told them they now were the only defenders of troops no one will defend, “even when all signs indicate innocence.”
“Congress and our political masters are dancing by the fire…
