Acting Navy secretary: 'I stand by every word I said' after leak of carrier speech

A transcript, as well as the audio of Thomas Modly's remarks to the crew of the USS Theodore Roosevelt, were leaked Monday.


Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly. | Mark Wilson/Getty Images

By CONNOR O’BRIEN and LARA SELIGMAN
04/06/2020 POLITICO

Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly said on Monday he stands by "every word" he said to the crew of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, after leaked audio revealed a profanity-laced speech in which he called the decision of the ship's former commanding officer to write a letter asking for help "naive" and "stupid."

"The spoken words were from the heart, and meant for them. I stand by every word I said, even, regrettably any profanity that may have been used for emphasis," Modly said in a statement to POLITICO. "Anyone who has served on a Navy ship would understand. I ask, but don’t expect, that people read them in their entirety."

In the speech to the crew over the ship's public address system, Modly criticized Capt. Brett Crozier for broadly emailing a letter last week requesting assistance for the ship's personnel as more crew members tested positive for the coronavirus. The letter was later published by Crozier's hometown newspaper, the San Francisco Chronicle.

The ship, which had been on deployment, is in Guam, where leaders are systematically removing personnel from the carrier and putting them in quarantine. More than 150 sailors have tested positive for Covid-19.

A transcript, as well as the audio of Modly's remarks to the crew, were leaked to several media outlets Monday. Modly did not share his remarks with the White House or Defense Secretary Mark Esper's office ahead of time, a defense official told POLITICO.

In the speech, the acting Navy secretary said Crozier was "too naive, or too stupid, to be the commanding officer of a ship like this" if he thought the contents of his letter wouldn't become public.

"The alternative is that he did it on purpose," Modly said, according to the recording. "And that's a serious violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which you are all familiar with."

Modly called Crozier's letter a "betrayal." He accused the captain of considering the media — which he claimed is trying to embarrass the service — as part of his chain of command.

"There is no, no situation where you go to the media, because the media has an agenda. And the agenda that they have depends on which part of the political aisle they sit," Modly said. "And I'm sorry that's the way the country is now, but that's the truth. And so they use it to divide us. They use it to embarrass the Navy."

"I understand you love the guy," Modly later told sailors of Crozier. "It's good that you love him. But you're not required to love him."

The defense official said Modly did not mean to insult Crozier's intelligence, noting that he is "a bright, bright officer." The acting secretary came to the conclusion that Crozier "wasn't thinking straight" and "made an emotional decision" in order to help his crew, the official said.

Several Democratic lawmakers have since called for Modly to be fired or resign.

Rep. Elaine Luria (D-Va.), a retired Navy officer who represents the Norfolk area, called for Esper to oust Modly over his remarks to sailors aboard the Roosevelt.

"TR Sailors are on the frontlines of this pandemic and of our nation’s defense in the Pacific," Luria said in a statement. "Acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly’s remarks to the crew show that he is in no way fit to lead our Navy through this trying time. Esper should immediately fire him."