The video above is Fox News "analyst" Wayne Shelby Simmons talking about fictitious Muslim training camps in the United States, which has famously become a major Fox News talking point.
But it looks like he was just talking out of his ass, based on the FBI charges that led to his arrest today. Of course, all are innocent until proven guilty, but if these charges are true, he could take what shreds of credibility Fox News has down right along with him.
From the FBI press release:
Wayne Shelby Simmons, 62, of Annapolis, Maryland, a former occasional on-air commentator who appeared on a cable news network, was arrested today after being indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of major fraud against the United States, wire fraud, and making false statements to the government.
According to the indictment, Simmons falsely claimed he worked as an “Outside Paramilitary Special Operations Officer” for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from 1973 to 2000, and used that false claim in an attempt to obtain government security clearances and work as a defense contractor, including at one point successfully getting deployed overseas as an intelligence advisor to senior military personnel. According to the indictment, Simmons also falsely claimed on national security forms that his prior arrests and criminal convictions were directly related to his supposed intelligence work for the CIA, and that he had previously held a top secret security clearance. The indictment also alleges that Simmons defrauded an individual victim out of approximately $125,000 in connection with a bogus real estate investment.
The previous criminal charges the FBI refers to point back to 1985, when Simmons was arrested and convicted on charges of possessing firearms after a prior felony conviction.
Looking back on our archives here, I see where Simmons engaged in some strong projection when he called then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi a "pathological liar."
What goes around, comes around, eh? Fox News: They defraud, you decide.
