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Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl Facing Court Martial

Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl charged with desertion is facing court martial for abandoning post while serving in Afghanistan.
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By Jim Miklaszewski and Corky Siemaszko

Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl is facing a court martial, military brass and the defendant's lawyer told NBC News.

Bergdahl, who was captured by the Taliban after he left his post in Afghanistan back in June 2009, was charged in March with desertion and a misbehavior before the enemy — charges that carry a potential life sentence.

"I had hoped the case would not go in this direction," defense attorney Eugene Fidell said in a statement. "We will continue to defend Sgt. Bergdahl as the case proceeds."

Fidell also urged Republican presidential front runner Donald Trump, who has called Bergdahl a traitor who should be executed, to butt out of the case.

"We again ask that Donald Trump cease his prejudicial months-long campaign of defamation against our client," he wrote.

Related: 'Serial' Season 2 Debuts With Bowe Bergdahl Telling 'Desertion' Story

Bergdahl fell into Taliban hands after he vanished on June 30, 2009 from a post in the remote Paktika Province. He was released in May in a prisoner swap for five Taliban commanders held at Guantanamo Bay.

The Army' began their investigation after Bergdahl was returned to Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, where he's been working a desk job.

Jim Miklaszewski

Jim Miklaszewski is the chief Pentagon correspondent for NBC News. On 9/11, he was the first at the scene to report that the Pentagon had been attacked and has since led the network's coverage of the war in Afghanistan.

Since joining NBC in 1985, Miklaszewski was a White House correspondent during the Clinton and Bush administrations, covering President Clinton's transition from Little Rock, his many trips abroad including Moscow and the Middle East and his reelection. He was also an NBC floor reporter at the Democratic and Republican conventions in 1996 and 2000.

In the Bush White House, Miklaszewski reported on the Gulf War with Iraq, summits with Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin and the Bush reelection campaign in 1992.

Miklaszewski has logged considerable foreign experience with battlefront coverage of wars in Lebanon, El Salvador and the Falkland Islands. He also covered the United States air raid on Libya, and the "tanker wars" in the Persian Gulf.

Corky Siemaszko

Corky Siemaszko is a senior reporter for NBC News Digital.