You gotta wonder if the WH even knew this guy was a deserter? This will blow up big time on them. I think they were just anxious to get the VA off of the front page.... and they jumped at this chance. Then there is birdog’s dad speaking in Aramaic from the white house while Obammy stands there. This was crazy....
They had to know. The circumstances were widely known in the military, and anyone knowing about it had to sign an NDA (which is unusual).
I think the White House figured the knee-pad media wouldn't report it. But, since it's gone viral, even the Washington Post and CNN couldn't ignore it.
I was curious if Snopes had addressed it. They haven't touched it (yet), other than to say their current information is "outdated":
http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/bergdahl.asp
The site is run by a couple of leftists. It must really bug them to see this, and are probably burning the midnight oil to figure out how to spin it in favor of Obama.