NAVY-MARINE CORPS TRIAL JUDICIARY

SPECIAL COURT MARTIAL

v. STIPULATION OF FACT

STUART P. SCHELLER JR.

1) I, Lieutenant Colonel Stuart P. Scheller, Jr., U.S. Marine Corps, the accused in this special court-
martial, entered into active duty military service on 16 January 2005 and have been on continuous
active duty since that date. I have not been released or discharged from active duty service at any
time. I was commissioned as an officer in the United States Marine Corps on 25 March 2005 via
Officer Candidate Course. I have never received a final DD 214 or a final accounting of my pay. My
present military organization is School of Infantry East, Training Command, Camp Lejeune, North
Carolina.

2) I am entering this Stipulation of Fact of my own free will. No one has forced or threatened me to
enter this Stipulation of Fact. I understand that I have the right not to enter this Stipulation of Fact
and that this Stipulation of Fact will not be accepted without my consent. I understand that if this
Stipulation of Fact is entered into evidence, the facts contained in it cannot be contradicted by either
me or the government. I have read and discussed this Stipulation of Fact with my counsel.
Everything contained within this Stipulation of Fact is true. I understand that if admitted into
evidence this document will be used in the following ways:

a) To rule on applicable motions, if any;

b) To determine a finding of guilty or not guilty to the charged offenses;

c) To determine an appropriate sentence; and

d) To be considered by appellate courts and reviewing authorities in reviewing my case.

3) I agree to these four uses and consent to this Stipulation of Fact being admitted into evidence by the
Military Judge.

4) My name, rank, and unit are correctly stated in the specifications.

5) The following facts are provided regarding the offenses charged.

Facts Related to Charge I and its Sole Specification (UCMJ Article 88):

6) On board Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, on or about 26 August 2021, I recorded a video of
myself in my office—stating my name, rank, and billet at the Commanding Officer, Advanced
Infantry Training Battalion—and later posted on social media sites certain words against the
Secretary of Defense.
7) The words in my video post included the following: “We have a Secretary of Defense that testified to
Congress in May that the Afghan National Security Force could withstand the Taliban advance . . .
Did you throw your rank on the table and say it is a bad idea to abandon Bagram Air Field, a strategic
air base, before we evacuate everyone . . . when you didn’t think to do that, did you raise your hand
and say we completely messed this up,” and “potentially all of those people did die in vain if we don’t
have senior leaders that own up and raise their hand and say we did not do this well in the end,” or
words to that effect.

8) These words, by my posting the video to my Facebook and LinkedIn accounts, came to the
knowledge of numerous members of the armed forces and members of the general public.

9) These words were contemptuous by virtue of the circumstances under which I used them—in a public
setting, while in uniform, as a sitting battalion commander.

10) No one or nothing forced or coerced me to use the contemptuous words.

11) There is no legal justification or excuse for my conduct.

12) It was a freely made decision on my part to use these words.

13) I could have avoided using those words if I had wanted to.

14) I believe and admit that I am guilty of the sole Specification under the Charge.

Facts Related to Spec 1 of Charge II (UCMJ Article 89):

15) On 31 August 2021, at Cove City, North Carolina, I wrote in social media posts, “General Berger /
Sir, I understand you want to court martial me. Your entire staff has already told me. All the
Captains you spoke to today already texted me. You recently banned all unit social media pages so
that you could centralize the message. Because, I’m assuming, you think Marine leaders aren’t
capable of passing a message in line with your intent. Your problem right now… is that I am moving
faster than you. I’m out maneuvering you. Where can we find this philosophy…,” or words to that
effect.

16) While I was not in close physical proximity to General Berger at the time I wrote these words, by
posting them on social media sites, the general public was able to see and read those words.

17) The posts were in fact read by thousands of people, based on the social media site information,
including comments regarding these posts.

18) The language in my posts was directed specifically towards General Berger.

19) My comments were not part of a purely private conversation, as they were posted for the whole
universe of those social media sites’ users to see.

20) General Berger is my superior commissioned officer.

21) I know General Berger is my superior commissioned officer, as he is the four-star general
Commandant of the Marine Corps.

22) General Berger is entitled to respectful behavior from me.

24) General Berger did not abandon his rank by virtue of his own actions.

25) Under the circumstances, my behavior was disrespectful and contemptuous to General Berger—
including my ascribing motivations to the Commandant wanting to court-martial me that were
speculative and without merit and inappropriately demeaning General Berger by publically claiming
to out maneuver him.

26) I was aware my conduct was disrespectful at the time I wrote and posted the comments to General
Berger.

27) I intended the comments to be disrespectful when I made and posted them.

28) General Berger did not consent to my disrespectful behavior.

29) I do not believe I had authority or permission to be disrespectful to General Berger.

30) No one and nothing forced me to be disrespectful to General Berger.

31) I could have been respectful to General Berger if I had wanted to do so.

32) I believe that I was disrespectful to my superior commissioned officer on 31 August 2021 by
contemptuously saying, “General Berger / Sir, I understand you want to court martial me. Your entire
staff has already told me. All the Captains you spoke to today already texted me. You recently
banned all unit social media pages so that you could centralize the message. Because, I’m assuming,
you think Marine leaders aren’t capable of passing a message in line with your intent. Your problem
right now… is that I am moving faster than you. I’m out maneuvering you. Where can we find this
philosophy…,” or words to that effect, to General Berger.

Facts Related to Spec 2 of Charge II (UCMJ Article 89):

33) On 25 September 2021, at Emerald Isle, North Carolina, I wrote in social media posts, “To General
Alford . . . My generation is sick of being bullied. Maybe my generation knows a little bit more than
you think. We’ve watched you play politics for 20 years. You thought we were too stupid to learn?”
or words to that effect.

34) I wrote these words addressed to Major General J. D. Alford as part of a larger post, in which I earlier
addressed what I viewed as personal and/or professional failures of four former Presidents of the
United States and four very prominent former Marine Corps and Army Generals.

35) While I was not in close physical proximity to Major General Alford at the time I wrote these words,
by posting them on social media sites, the general public was able to see and read those words.

36) The posts were in fact read by thousands of people, based on the social media site information,
including comments regarding these posts.

37) The language in my posts was directed specifically towards Major General Alford.

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38) My comments were not part of a purely private conversation, as they were posted for the whole
universe of those social media sites’ users to see.

39) Major General Alford is my superior commissioned officer.

40) I know Major General Alford is my superior commissioned officer, as he is the Commanding
General, Training Command, U. S. Marine Corps—the command under which I was assigned at the
time of the posts and to which am currently still assigned.

41) Major General Alford is entitled to respectful behavior from me.

42) Major General Alford did not do anything the cause me to talk to him in a disrespectful manner.

43) Major General Alford did not abandon his rank by virtue of his own actions.

44) Under the circumstances, my behavior was disrespectful and contemptuous to Major General
Alford—including my addressing his mentorship comments to me and two other fellow-battalion
commanders at my command (encouraging use to not be part of the generation of lieutenant colonels
who do not know how to make decisions and feel the need to ask permission before acting) in the
publically confrontational reply as part of this post.

45) I was aware my conduct was disrespectful at the time I wrote and posted the comments to Major
General Alford.

46) I intended the comments to be disrespectful when I made and posted them.

47) Major General Alford did not consent to my disrespectful behavior.

48) I do not believe I had authority or permission to be disrespectful to Major General Alford.

49) No one and nothing forced me to be disrespectful to Major General Alford.

50) I could have been respectful to Major General Alford if I had wanted to do so.

51) I believe that I was disrespectful to my superior commissioned officer on 31 August 2021 by
contemptuously saying, “To General Alford . . . My generation is sick of being bullied. Maybe my
generation knows a little bit more than you think. We’ve watched you play politics for 20 years. You
thought we were too stupid to learn?” or words to that effect, to Major General Alford.

Facts Related to Spec 3 of Charge II (UCMJ Article 89):

52) On 25 September 2021, at Emerald Isle, North Carolina, I wrote in social media posts, “General
Donovan, thanks for finishing my fitrep multiple months late as soon as I hit the news. Is it safe to
assume you processed the report when I hit the news so that you didn’t look bad? It’s about your
optics, it’s never been about US. But if your [SIC] angry about me speaking the truth, send your
Regimental Commander to come find me again,” or words to that effect.

53) I wrote these words addressed to Major General F. L. Donovan as part of a larger post, in which I
earlier addressed what I viewed as personal and/or professional failures of four former Presidents of
the United States and four very prominent former Marine Corps and Army Generals.

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54) While I was not in close physical proximity to Major General Donovan at the time I wrote these
words, by posting them on social media sites, the general public was able to see and read those words.

55) The posts were in fact read by thousands of people, based on the social media site information,
including comments regarding these posts.

56) The language in my posts was directed specifically towards Major General Donovan.

57) My comments were not part of a purely private conversation, as they were posted for the whole
universe of those social media sites’ users to see.

58) Major General Donovan is my superior commissioned officer.

59) I know Major General Donovan is my superior commissioned officer, as he is the Commanding
General, 2d Marine Division—the command under which I was assigned before my current
assignment.

60) Major General Donovan is entitled to respectful behavior from me.

61) Major General Donovan did not do anything the cause me to talk to him in a disrespectful manner.

62) Major General Donovan did not abandon his rank by virtue of his own actions.

63) Under the circumstances, my behavior was disrespectful and contemptuous to Major General
Donovan, in that I accused him of finally processing my late fitness report after I hit the news just so
he would not look bad, said he is motivated only by his optics instead of the best interests of his
Marines or the country, and publically directed him to send a Regimental Command to come find me
if he was angry about me telling the world the truth about him in these three regards.

64) I was aware my conduct was disrespectful at the time I wrote and posted the comments to Major
General Donovan.

65) I intended the comments to be disrespectful when I made and posted them.

66) Major General Donovan did not consent to my disrespectful behavior.

67) I do not believe I had authority or permission to be disrespectful to Major General Donovan.

68) No one and nothing forced me to be disrespectful to Major General Donovan.

69) I could have been respectful to Major General Donovan if I had wanted to do so.

70) I believe that I was disrespectful to my superior commissioned officer on 31 August 2021 by
contemptuously saying, “General Donovan, thanks for finishing my fitrep multiple months late as
soon as I hit the news. Is it safe to assume you processed the report when I hit the news so that you
didn’t look bad? It’s about your optics, it’s never been about US. But if your [SIC] angry about me
speaking the truth, send your Regimental Commander to come find me again,” or words to that effect,
to Major General Donovan.

Facts Related to Spec 4 of Charge II (UCMJ Article 89):

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71) On 25 September 2021, at Emerald Isle, North Carolina, I wrote in social media posts, “Col Emmel
please have the MPs waiting for me at 0800 on Monday. I’m ready for jail,” or words to that effect.

72) I wrote these words addressed to Colonel D. C. Emmel as part of a larger post, in which, among other
comments, I earlier quoted language from the order that Colonel Emmel issued to me on 17
September 2021 to not make any social media posts, followed by the sentence, “What happens when
you communicate an order that stipulates [SIC] you to stop communicating?”

73) While I was not in close physical proximity to Colonel Emmel at the time I wrote these words, by
posting them on social media sites, the general public was able to see and read those words.

74) The posts were in fact read by thousands of people, based on the social media site information,
including comments regarding these posts.

75) The language in my posts was directed specifically towards Colonel Emmel.

76) My comments were not part of a purely private conversation, as they were posted for the whole
universe of those social media sites’ users to see.

77) Colonel Emmel is my superior commissioned officer.

78) I know Colonel Emmel is my superior commissioned officer, as he is the Commanding General, 2d
Marine Division—the command under which I was assigned before my current assignment.

79) Colonel Emmel is entitled to respectful behavior from me.

80) Colonel Emmel did not do anything the cause me to talk to him in a disrespectful manner.

81) Colonel Emmel did not abandon his rank by virtue of his own actions.

82) Under the circumstances, my behavior was disrespectful and contemptuous to Colonel Emmel, by
publically asking Col Emmel to have Military Police waiting for me at a specific time and day since I
was ready to go to jail, after first posting the exact verbiage of Colonel Emmel’s order that prevented
me from posting altogether on 25 September 2021.

83) I was aware my conduct was disrespectful at the time I wrote and posted the comments to Colonel
Emmel.

84) I intended the comments to be disrespectful when I made and posted them.

85) Colonel Emmel did not consent to my disrespectful behavior.

86) I do not believe I had authority or permission to be disrespectful to Colonel Emmel.

87) No one and nothing forced me to be disrespectful to Colonel Emmel.

88) I could have been respectful to Colonel Emmel if I had wanted to do so.

89) I believe that I was disrespectful to my superior commissioned officer on 31 August 2021 by
contemptuously saying, “Col Emmel please have the MPs waiting for me at 0800 on Monday. I’m
ready for jail,” or words to that effect, to Colonel Emmel.
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Facts Related to Charge II and its Sole Specification (UCMJ Article 90):

90) On 17 September 2021, at School of Infantry East, I received a lawful command to refrain from
posting anything on any social media from Colonel Emmel.

91) I was given a written order, subject-titled “ORDER TO REFRAIN FROM POSTING ON SOCIAL
MEDIA, which specifically stated, “effective immediately upon your receipt below, you are hereby
ordered to refrain from posting any and all material, in any form and without exception, to any social
media.”

92) I read the written order in its entirety, and signed an endorsement acknowledging my receipt and
understand of the order.

93) I understood what I was not supposed to do under the order.

94) I also understood that I was warned in writing in the endorsement section that failure to abide by the
order may result in punitive and/or adverse administrative action under the UCMJ.

95) I believe the command was lawful under the circumstances.

96) The order followed my relief from command for social media posts and subsequent verbal counseling
by Col Emmel about ALMAR 008/17 and the requirements established for Marines related to social
media posts on 27 August 2021, a then a separate written counseling on 3 September 2021, about the
nature of my posts that I had continued making before 17 September 2021.

97) I understand that, under the circumstances, the 17 September 2021 order to refrain from all posting
was a form of pretrial restraint while my command investigation was pending completion—
specifically, a condition on my liberty, under RCM 304.

98) Col Emmel was my superior commissioned officer at the time.

99) Col Emmel was my Commanding Officer, as the School of Infantry East Commanding Officer.

100) I knew that Col Emmel was my Commanding Officer and superior commissioned officer, having
served under him since June 2021.

101) I was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel on 1 June 2021, and Col Emmel has been at his present
rank for the duration of my time at School on Infantry East.

102) On 25 and 26 September 2021, I willfully disobeyed the lawful command by publishing three
social media posts on my Facebook and LinkedIn accounts.

103) I believe and admit that I had a duty to obey the order to not make any social media posts.

104) I did not obey that order because I wanted to continue to comment on the issues I addressed in the
posts on 25 and 26 September 2021.

105) My social media posts on 25 and 26 September 2021 were intentional acts on my part.

106) I do not believe that I had any legal justification or excuse for my actions in this regard.
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107) I could have avoided disobeying the order if I had wanted to do so.

108) No one and nothing forced or coerced me to disobey the order.

109) There were freely made decisions on my part to disobey the order.

Facts Related to Spec 1 of Charge IV (UCMJ Article 92):

110) Throughout 26 August 2021 to 26 September 2021, I had duties to not engage in commentary or
publish content on social media networking platforms or through other forms of communication that
harm good order and discipline or that bring discredit upon myself, my unit, or the Marine Corps and
to avoid actions online that threaten the morale operational readiness and security, or public standing
of their units, or that compromise our core values—as provided in ALMAR 008/17.

111) I also specifically had a duty to refrain from posting anything on social media that might discredit
the Marine Corps, adversely affect good order and discipline, weaken the Marine Corps team, or
violate operational security—as provided in my formal MAVMC 118(11) counseling on 22 March
2017.

112) I was supposed to perform those duties, like all other Marines.

113) I knew that I had this duty based on the training and formal counseling I received regarding those
matters.

114) I did not perform these duties, and my failure to fulfill the duties was a willful act on my part.

115) The items I posted on social media included my clear acknowledgement that I was not supposed
to post those items, that I should be relieved for doing so, that I should face administrative or punitive
actions, and that I should even be confined for continuing to post material related to circumventing
the trust of service members and the trust of the general public in the senior civilian and military
leadership within the Department of Defense.

116) I repeatedly chose to post video statements and written comments on my two social media
accounts that discredit the Marine Corps, adversely affect good and discipline, weaken the Marine
Corps team, or violate operational security by—after identifying myself as an active duty Marine
Corps officer and occasionally appearing in uniform in the posts—openly calling into question the
leadership and moral authority of senior civilian and military senior officials.

117) I could have performed my duties related to social media activities if I had wanted to do so.

118) I had no permission or authority to post the matters that I did on the two social media sites.

119) I should have not posted the matters that I did on social media.

Facts Related to Spec 2 of Charge IV (UCMJ Article 92):

120) Marine Corps Order 1020.34H, the Marine Corps Uniform Regulations, was issued by the
Commandant of the Marine Corps.

121) I believe the Commandant of the Marine Corps was authorized to issue MCO 1020.34H.
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122) MCO 1020.34H was implemented on 1 May 2018, and it was properly published as a Marine
Corps Order in the usual promulgations and publication process.

123) I believe and admit that it is a lawful order and it was in effect on 16 September 2021.

124) I believe that order is reasonably necessary to safeguard and protect the morale, discipline, and
usefulness of the United States Marine Corps.

125) I believe and admit that the order applied to me on 16 September 2021.

126) I understand the terms in paragraph 1003.1 of the order.

127) I believe and admit that I had a duty to obey that order, because I am an active duty Lieutenant
Colonel in the United States Marine Corps.

128) I violated my duties under this order on 16 September 2021 at or near Emerald Isle, North
Carolina, by wrongfully wearing my Service “C” uniform in a video that I posted to the unlimited,
world audience on social media sites that day—in which I stated that I was an active duty Marine
officer, talked about my legal situation, acknowledged that posting the video might destroy a non-
court-martial disposition, announce I was starting a foundation to raise money through the Pipe Fitter
Foundation for people to donate money to my family and for the legal fees related to my legal
arguments against the U. S. Central Command Commander, and prefer charges against General
McKenzie for bad assumptions about Afghanistan in the U.S. troop withdrawal process based on the
General’s 31 August 2021 public comments.

129) These actions were wrongful, and they both solicited funds from the public that is beyond the
military base community and created a public event that would compromise the dignity of the Marine
Corps uniform.

130) It was wrongful because a basic tenant is to not use my public office as a Marine officer for
private gain by raising money for my family or private ventures and because I personally had no
detailed information related to the alleged violations of the UCMJ that I publically proclaimed against
a geographic combatant commander.

131) I believe and admit that my posts violated my duties under this order on 16 September 2021 at or
near Emerald Isle, North Carolina.

132) I could have followed this order if I had wanted to do so.

133) No one and nothing forced or coerced me into violating this order.

Facts Related to Charge V and its Sole Specification (UCMJ Article 133):

134) The actions enumerated in this specification include actions taken in my official and personal
capacities.

135) I committed all of the 27 actions alleged on the charge sheet under this specification.

136) My actions compromised my character as a gentleman because they were contemptuous towards
the Secretary of the Navy and/or otherwise did not comport with the expectations of an officer.
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137) All of the alleged bullets charged in this specification reflected indecorum and lawlessness that
was morally unfitting and unworthy of being an officer.

138) My actions were serious misbehavior, as opposed to just merely inappropriate or merely in poor
taste.

[SPACE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK]

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