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Rep. Jim Renacci deleted a "Tweet" that said he was "glad to hear that Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl is coming home safely. He's a true American hero."

(Lynn Ischay / Plain Dealer file photograph)

Politwoops Deleted tweets from politicians

WASHINGTON, D.C. - As questions arise about President Barack Obama's decision to trade five Taliban prisoners from Guantanamo Bay for the release of U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, politicians including Wadsworth GOP Rep. Jim Renacci have deleted early statements they placed on "Twitter" to applaud Bergdahl's liberation.

After news of Bergdahl's release broke on Saturday, Renacci posted a message that said: "So glad to hear that Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl is coming home safely. He's a true American hero," with a link to an ABC News story about Bergdahl's release.

Within days, soldiers who served with Bergdahl accused him of being a deserter rather than a hero. Others said the five released Taliban leaders would likely revert to terrorism and the deal would encourage the Taliban to kidnap more Americans.

On Wednesday, Renacci's office deleted the Tweet that praised Bergdahl's release. He posted a message on his Facebook page that said he trusts the Army to "follow through with outstanding concerns" about Bergdahl's disappearance, and supports the House Armed Services Committee investigation into the prisoner swap.

The website Mashable reported that Renacci was among several politicians who retracted positive comments they made on Twitter about the soldier's release "to run from the spreading Bergdahl backlash." They included Mississippi Sen. Thad Cochran, Massachusetts Democratic Rep. Stephen Lynch and Paul DeMarco, a Republican candidate for Congress in Alabama.

Spokeswoman Megan Taylor said the original Tweet was posted by a staffer, not Renacci.

"Over the past several days, new information has been brought to light regarding Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl's capture and release and the facts are currently unclear," said an email from Taylor. "Given these developments, it was appropriate to take the post down."

Mashable obtained its information from a website operated by the Sunlight Foundation that archives "Tweets" that were deleted by politicians.

An examination of its erased postings about Bergdahl turned up a Tweet that Ohio Gov. John Kasich deleted after an hour on Sept. 12 2012. It said "Ohio's own Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl is currently a POW in Afghanistan. On this POW/MIA Recognition Day, let us all pray for his safe return."

Kasich spokesman Rob Nichols said that soon after the item was posted on both Facebook and Twitter, a commenter on Facebook noted that Bergdahl was not from Ohio, so the posting was removed.

"We didn't want to pass along erroneous information," said Nichols.