Part 1: U.S. Special Forces Soldier Smeared By Reporter Who Did Not Provide Critical Update

This is part one of a two-part series that mainly focuses on the allegations and media reports that were used to smear a decorated combat veteran. For part two, click here.

Sgt. Maj. Charles “Chuck” Ritter is a legend within the U.S. Army Special Forces community, and for good reason. Ritter has been wounded in combat multiple times while serving in the War on Terror, which has led him to refer to himself as a well-known “bullet magnet," and returned to active duty after each time to stay in the fight.

With tours in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria, you would think that he has faced almost every threat the world currently has to offer. This is why despite knowing how to lead U.S. and foreign troops in combat, Ritter was caught off guard when false rumors were spread involving Sgt. 1st Class Daniel Regeimbal, a Green Beret he fired for behavior while deployed in Syria, and his partner at the time, about alleged unprofessional behavior by Ritter to destroy his nearly 30-year career. A military reporter was then used to make the allegations known to the public.

What made it worse was how the reporter, Jack Murphy, did not provide an update on the original piece when the Army’s investigation into the allegations cleared Ritter’s name despite being told multiple times. Murphy formerly served as a Green Beret.

“Expect to hear more about this story in the future. The stuff that goes on in these commands is absolutely surreal,” Murphy promised on April 27, 2022. It was the last time he posted the story to his X account.

To those who might say, “Well, of course, the Army will clear the name of a decorated solider to avoid embarrassment,” it would be a reasonable thing to think if not for the fact Regeimbal confessed to Ritter what they did and is going on the record to say none of what they accused Ritter of doing was true and is apologizing for his role in the matter.

The hard-to-believe telenovela begins in a place where almost any grand story, good or bad, begins: in a bar.

The beginning of Murphy’s story is true:

“Regeimbal, known as Reggie by his teammates at 3rd Special Forces Group, had been involved in an altercation with a Warrant Officer while in Syria, but his problems were just beginning, according to several sources Connecting Vets spoke with. Back at Fort Bragg, an ex-girlfriend began calling his chain of command complaining about him, triggering several multi-year long Army investigations.”

“While Regeimbal was under investigation, he went out to a popular bar in Southern Pines, North Carolina called O'Donnells in Aug. 2021. Ritter happened to be there that night as well. While Regeimbal kept his distance, his fiance named Kate was frustrated with the endless investigations into her boyfriend and confronted Ritter.

“Ritter described the encounter in an interview with Connecting Vets, saying that a woman approached him at the bar making allegations about him trashing her fiancé in a group chat with other Special Forces soldiers, but that she didn't have any proof to show him at the bar.”

Regeimbal eventually had his Special Forces tab revoked at the end of the Army’s investigation. Regeimbal believed Ritter was behind losing his tab, which stirred up more hatred against him, and was one of the seeds that resulted in the following events. Ritter says he was not involved in the decision to revoke Regeimbal’s tab.

Where the story starts to fall apart is when Murphy reported that Ritter “slid into Kate's DMs”:

“Kate and Regeimbal were now married and lived together. The conversation between Ritter and Kate started out as a candid discussion about Regeimbal but later turned into sexting and trading sexually explicit pictures. In the chat logs reviewed by Connecting Vets, these messages appear to be between two consenting adults.”

In an interview with me, Ritter flatly denied sexting with Kathryn Elizabeth Leyen. He says Leyen started the online conversation and it was strictly about helping her in what she was claiming to be an abusive relationship. I obtained the full recording of the phone conversation Murphy said he had where Ritter was telling Leyen to “delete” everything. Ritter was telling Leyen to “delete” everything to protect her from a supposed “dangerous” Regeimbal, not to cover up any sexting that occurred between them because no sexting had occurred.

“[She] gave me this whole sob story of how she’s scared of this dude…At some point, the story started not making any sense. I’m like, ‘OK now you’re telling me you guys live together and now he’s mysteriously comes in and sleeps on the couch,’” Ritter recalled.

Murphy reached out to Ritter about the accusations on February 14, 2022. Ritter had several calls, emails, and text exchanges before and after the Connecting Vets story was published, which went live on February 22, 2022. The story was then picked up by the Daily Mail, including its French version.

After the story was published, the Army’s investigation found none of the accusations about Ritter, which had been spread by Murphy, were true. In a memo from 2022, a former commander of Ritter wrote he “maintains an outstanding record with no adverse actions against him at any point in his career” and he “has the complete trust of the [Special Warfare Center and School] Chain of Command. His reputation proceeds him.”

(Note: I independently confirmed the authenticity of the memo. The date is a typo.)

“[Leyen] came in for an interview with the investigating officer…She lost her sh*t, she got mad. She admitted, ‘I had to do what I had to do to take care of this dude who was destroying my husband’s career and I’m a civilian and you can’t do anything about it,’” Ritter said.

A source familiar with the interview said Leyen became combative with the military investigator and she had a hard time keeping her story straight: “She was dancing around the questions to avoid answering them.”

“She got super defensive right up front. Legs crossed, arms crossed. She became very angry, very flustered,” the source said. “It was very productive because it revealed some of the discrepancies in her story.”

Murphy reported seeing messages of Ritter between Leyen that were sexual in nature but both Ritter and Regeimbal said those had been doctored.

“Kathryn has a long history of fabricating messages,” Regeimbal explained.

Regeimbal said he believed he was texting Leyen’s father, who claimed he was a retired Sgt. Maj. from 7th Special Forces Group. The messages Regeimbal was getting claimed Ritter was the main man who was not only trying to kick him out of the Special Forces, but out of the Army entirely. Regeimbal said he later found out he was not texting with a retired Sgt. Maj. out of 7th Group at all, but he was texting with Leyen the whole time. Leyen’s father was never in the Army. Regeimbal said he never had a phone conversation with Leyen’s “father,” only communicating through text and an email address he says was created by Leyen.

I reviewed the messages in the three-way group chat Regeimbal said he was in with Leyen and Leyen’s “father.” Regeimbal admitted he never directly reached out to Ritter prior to Murphy’s report and the investigation to get his side of the story.

“We broke up in a very ugly way…At that point I realized none of the sh*t she told me was true. I believe Chuck,” Regeimbal said.

Regeimbal gave the Army a sworn statement on May 26, 2023 explaining he was falsely led to believe by Leyen that Ritter was out to get him and was trying to sleep with his then-wife. He revealed he was going through divorce proceedings.

Ritter thought the ordeal would finally be behind him once he sent the investigation’s findings to Murphy and other news outlets who picked up the story. Part of the message he sent to the publications read:

“The accusations were proven to be false early last year, but your publications are still present and populate on page one of any google search with my name. Your publications promoting proven, false allegations against me have had, and continue to have, a tremendously negative impact on my career, family, and reputation.”

Ritter asked the authors and companies to issue an apology and a retraction of their stories. Ritter, close to retirement, admitted to me the story has harmed some job opportunities in the civilian world.

What was Murphy’s response? At first, nothing.

“I sent him two emails [with the investigation’s findings]…Silence, and then I did get one response back from Murphy, but it was this year when he knew that I knew everything,” Ritter said.

In the lengthy emails to Murphy a year after the story was published, Ritter laid out that not only did the investigation find the accusations were false but he had recently met with Regeimbal to hear his confession:

“He apologized to me and took responsibility for actions in the past that led him to getting in trouble. Actions that he was actually responsible for. He said that I told him I was removing from his team because he just needed an ego check. He said he now sees that as wisdom as was true. He told me that he was honestly convinced of Kate's story and I have confirmed this through his mom, Chris Leyen, and two others. He became aware that it wasn't true last year before contacting you.”

In the last set of emails between the two, Murphy wanted to see if Ritter would accept a “proposal of my own” instead of ignoring him “as the lawyers suggested…” Ritter said, out of frustration, he made a comment to Murphy about suing him for defamation.

“If we both agree to sign a covenant not to sue, then we can happily put that stumbling block behind us and move on. At that point I’d be happy to talk to you, have you on my podcast to tell your story, or whatever else,” Murphy emailed to Ritter.

The last email exchange between Murphy and Ritter occurred in June 2023. Ritter was still willing to talk about the issue on the phone and said he was free the following week.

“As I’ve said I can’t discuss anything. If the answer is yes I’ll have a lawyer draft something. If not, th[e]n I wish you the best,” Murphy replied.

“I feel terrible for all that took place with that. I think at the end of the day, [Ritter’s] a victim of a con artist that just seeks to hurt people…I would say Jack Murphy is also a victim. He should have a little more due diligence in what he puts out, I suppose, because he does it as a profession…I think he made an unwise decision but I think it was because he was convinced she was telling the truth,” Regeimbal said. “Chuck’s reputation was tarnished by Mr. Murphy in reporting what he believed to be facts.”

In a response to a request for comment, Murphy responded: “When Mr. Ritter threatened to sue it unfortunately killed any further communication. It's all in the hands of the lawyers of the company I work for and they have instructed me not to communicate with Ritter as this issue will have to be addressed in court. The story would be updated at that time I imagine but that's not a question I can answer.”

One source says there was a phone call with Murphy where Murphy expressed concern the story he published about Ritter was not completely accurate. Murphy denies that claim.

“I don't recall having concerns with the story. I sought comments from [United States Army Special Operations Command] and from Mr. Ritter, which appears in the story.”

After I asked Murphy why it would have to take a lawsuit to provide an important update to his story, he simply said I would have to “direct that question to the lawyers at Audacy. This issue has been taken out of my hands since a lawsuit was threatened.” Murphy did not provide a contact for Audacy’s lawyers when asked.

I attempted to speak with someone at Connecting Vets headquarters in Washington, D.C. but the front desk worker said to leave a note with my contact so he could pass it along. I left the note but did not hear back from Connecting Vets.

When reached for comment via email, Leyen at first accused me of being Regeimbal’s mother and sent the following:

“How odd, I went months without proton emails and now they start again. What are the odds? Oh how predictable you truly are!

“What part of the instructions at the last court hearing did you not quite understand? It seems you are the type who needs to have to suffer a significant consequence to actually STOP your harassing behavior. Clearly, you cannot follow instructions and act your age, which is what one would consider a ‘grandma!’

“STOP sending me ridiculous emails that literally NO ONE cares about!!

“YOU ARE HARASSING ME!”

I set up a Zoom call with Leyen to prove I was not Regeimbal’s mother. Leyen asked why the civilian world was interested in an Army matter. I explained the Ritter situation could have remained an Army matter but Murphy made the public aware about it through his report, which he then promoted on social media.

Leyen said she would have to speak with her lawyers to see if my questions warranted a response. Leyen said she was unaware of the Army’s findings in their investigation into Ritter.

“Listen, you’re a freelance reporter, apparently. You are free to publish anything that you want. Unless you have solid proof or evidence, I mean and I know this through talking to Jack Murphy, if you’re trying to do something else with it, good luck,” Leyen said.

After emailing the questions, screenshots of the messages from her “father,” and the memo clearing Ritter’s name to Leyen, she did not respond in time for publication.

A request for comment from the author of the Daily Mail’s version of Murphy’s story also did not respond in time for publication.

Click here for part two to read Ritter’s reaction to getting his name dragged through the mud and what Regeimbal told me in an exclusive interview.