Charlie Crist asks Thomas Modly to resign for calling fired Navy Captain ‘stupid’ and ‘naive’

Congressman Charlie Crist is calling on Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly to resign after his handling and dismissal of a Navy Captain who expressed concerns about COVID-19 threats to his crew and criticized the Navy’s response.

Captain Brett Crozier, who was leading the USS Theodore Roosevelt and its nearly 5,000 crew members, wrote a four page letter to Navy officials requesting more resources to manage an outbreak of the COVID-19 disease on his ship, which has reportedly infected 173 sailers. Crozier himself has since tested positive for the virus.

Instead of receiving additional help, Modly dismissed him.

“Captain Crozier may or may not have been justified in his approach to safeguarding the health and well-being of the men and women under his command. There are significant chain of command questions that require a full review,” Crist wrote in a statement.

“But the actions of Acting U.S. Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly, who shut down the investigation, and then personally attacked the Captain in a speech to the ship’s crew, are unconscionable. It brought drama and invective into an already challenging situation, and displayed incredibly poor judgement. Acting Secretary Modly should resign or be relieved of his duties. He is unfit to lead our Navy or serve in any position of leadership in our armed forces.”

Modly dismissed Crozier over what he described as a lack of leadership and failure to follow Navy protocol. He claimed, according to reports, the growing outbreak on his ship “overwhelmed his ability to act professionally.”

He sent an email to dozens of people through an unclassified email system, allowing the letter to be leaked, Modly claimed. Modly further argued Crozier’s actions led to panic on the ship

“In sending it out pretty broadly, he did not take care to ensure that it couldn’t be leaked,” Modly said, according to the New York Times. “And that’s part of his responsibility.”

But Modly drew criticism from the dismissal. He apologized Monday for calling Crozier “too naive or too stupid” to command a ship.

“Let me be clear, I do not think Captain Brett Crozier is naive nor stupid,” Modly wrote, according to the New York Post. “I think, and always believed him to be the opposite.”

“I believe, precisely because he is not naive and stupid, that he sent his alarming email with the intention of getting it into the public domain in an effort to draw public attention to the situation on his ship,” Modly continued.

President Donald Trump has since said he would consider investigating Crozier’s firing.

“I may look into it only from the standpoint that something should be resolved because I’m hearing good things about both people,” Trump said at a White House coronavirus briefing Monday.