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00000176-d8fc-dce8-adff-faff728f0003Bowe Bergdahl was born on March 28, 1986 to Bob and Jani Bergdahl in Sun Valley, Idaho. Bowe was raised in neighboring Hailey, Idaho, where his parents still live.On June 30, 2009, then 23-year-old Bowe Bergdahl is widely reported to have walked off his Army base in Afghanistan. Less than a month later, the Washington Post reports, Bergdahl appeared in the first of several Taliban-affiliated videos. In it, Bergdahl "says he was captured after lagging behind during a patrol," writes the Post.Here's a timeline of events.May 2008: Bergdahl enlists in the U.S. ArmyJune 30, 2009: Bergdahl reported missingJuly 2, 2009: CNN reports a U.S. military official says Bergdahl is being held by the clan of warlord Siraj Haqqani.July 18, 2009: The Taliban posts a video of Bergdahl.Dec. 25, 2009: Bergdahl's captor's release a second video of the solider.April 7, 2010: The Washington Post reports that the Taliban "posts a video showing Bergdahl pleading to be sent home and saying the war in Afghanistan is not worth the human cost."June 2010: The U.S. Army promotes Bergdahl to specialist.Dec. 7, 2010: CNN reports Bergdahl's captors release a 45-minute video showing a thinner soldier.Feb. 2011: Bergdahl's captors release another video.May 6, 2011: Bergdahl's father, Bob, posts a YouTube video asking for his son's release.June 16, 2011: The U.S. Army promotes Bergdahl to sergeant.May 9, 2012: Bob and Jani Bergdahl give an interview to the New York Times. The Bergdahls say the U.S. government is engaged in secret negotiations with the Taliban over a possible prisoner swap.June 6, 2013: Bergdahl’s family announces that “through the International Committee of the Red Cross, we recently received a letter we’re confident was written to us by our son.”Jan. 15, 2014: Bergdahl's captors release a proof-of-life video. Still unreleased publicly, the video reportedly shows Bergdahl in declining health.Feb. 23, 2014: The Taliban says it suspended prisoner-swap talks with the United States government.April 24, 2014: The U.S. government says prisoner-swap talks aren't disorganized. May 31, 2014: The U.S. government announces Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl was released by his captors in exchange for five U.S. detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.March 25, 2015: Following a U.S. Military investigation, the Army announced Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl will be charged with desertion, avoiding military service, and misbehavior before the enemy.This information was compiled from various media reports including The New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, The Associated Press, Northwest News Network.

Judge: Bergdahl Lawyers Can't Ask If Jurors Voted For Trump

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A judge said Thursday that he won't allow lawyers for Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl to ask potential military jurors whether they voted for President Donald Trump as the defense seeks signs of bias against their client.

The judge, Col. Jeffery Nance, is allowing the defense to ask prospective panel members other questions about whether they were influenced by negative comments Trump made about Bergdahl. But Nance said at a pretrial hearing that a written questionnaire couldn't ask directly how they voted.

The questionnaire will be sent out in the coming days. Bergdahl is scheduled for trial in October on charges that he endangered comrades by walking off his post in Afghanistan in 2009.

Defense attorney Eugene Fidell said he's disappointed the voting question won't be included.

"The questionnaire will help us get closer to where we need to be, but we also believe that being able to ask the ultimate question, the key question about how people actually voted, is essential," he said by phone.

The defense can also ask questions in-person during jury selection in October, but the voting question is expected to be off-limits then, too.

Fidell has argued that Bergdahl can't get a fair trial because of Trump, who harshly criticized the soldier in dozens of campaign speeches. Now that Trump is president, the defense argues, military jurors would have a hard time ignoring the words of their commander-in-chief. Bergdahl is charged with desertion and misbehavior before the enemy.

In February, Nance rejected a defense motion to dismiss the case entirely over Trump's comments, but he said he'd give Bergdahl's attorneys wide leeway to question prospective jurors.

Bergdahl was captured by the Taliban shortly after he left his remote post. The soldier from Idaho has said he intended to cause alarm and draw attention to what he saw as problems with his unit.

Bergdahl was freed from captivity in 2014 in exchange for five Taliban prisoners. Former President Barack Obama was criticized by Republicans who claimed the trade jeopardized the nation's security.

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