Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) last week stirred controversy in his defense of accused war criminal and former Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher by claiming that he had also killed “hundreds” of civilians while in combat.

Discussing Hunter’s remarks on CNN, retired Maj. General James “Spider” Marks said that Hunter should not be drawing comparisons between anything he remembers doing and what Gallagher has been accused by his own fellow officers of doing.

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“I would say never miss an opportunity to keep your mouth shut,” Marks said of Hunter’s comments.

CNN’s Brianna Keilar then pointed out that Gallagher has been accused of intentionally shooting civilians while in Iraq, including “a young woman” and “an old man.”

“The legal process needs to play itself out,” Marks said. “Granted, we could take this to the far end and say the president has great flexibility and discretion in order to pardon someone, but we are not at that point at all. The congressman should have remained quiet.”

Watch the video below.