The contrast here is too great. A slap on the wrist and keeping his pay/benefits and retirement, or spending many years in Fort Leavenworth, a DD and poverty.
I am reminded of Eddie Slovik. A deserter, he was chosen almost at random for execution, because at that point the Army morale was poor in the face of a German attack. So he was going to be executed to raise moral.
But then the Malmedy Massacre happened. They no longer needed to execute him, so were very honest and said to him:
“If you say you were lost and separated from your unit, you will be forgiven and sent back to your unit. But if you insist that you deserted and would do so again if given the chance, you will be executed.”
“But I wasn’t lost, I wanted to desert! And I would do it again!”, insisted Slovik.
Thus, having no other choice, they executed the dumbass.
****
There are some people who will always insist on it, for what they think is their “honor”, or politics, or religion. I knew a Marine who always thought honesty was such an absolute that he would take a bullet for dumb reasons.
I asked him what he would say if his gf/wife asked him if she was getting fat. Sure, I’d tell her that she looked like a sack of blubber, he said.
“Ashes to ashes, and dust to dust, son”, I replied.
Like I said, if he publicly bad mouthed Trump for a lighter sentence/punishment, that would make him a real chump, and someone who would say anything to save his own azz. That would make his character and his situation even worse from my perspective.