A frequent Fox News guest analyst has been charged with fraud after falsely claiming to be a former CIA agent, US prosecutors say.
Wayne Simmons of Annapolis, Maryland, portrayed himself as an "outside paramilitary special operations officer" for the Central Intelligence Agency from 1973 to 2000.
He allegedly tried to use that claim to get government security clearances and work as a defence contractor.
The 62-year-old was arrested on Thursday after a grand jury indicted him in relation to alleged misconduct, including major fraud and making false statements to the government.
The indictment said that Simmons falsely claimed on national security forms that his previous arrests and convictions were related to his CIA work and that he had held a top secret security clearance.
At one point he was deployed overseas as an intelligence adviser to senior military officers, the US attorney's office for Virginia's Eastern District said in a statement.
He has appeared on Fox News as a guest analyst on terrorism since 2002, a profile on Amazon.com said.
He also spoke at a 2013 forum sponsored by the Citizens Committee on Benghazi, probing the deaths of four Americans in Libya in 2012 and the role of then-secretary of state Hillary Clinton.
Fox News 'terror expert' Wayne Simmons arrested for lying about 27-year career as CIA officer - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
Besides his phony credentials, Simmons was obviously challenged by reality. In addition to endorsing torture (a plus for Fox News), Simmons wanted "American Taliban" John Walker Lindh executed by firing squad even after the Bush administration dropped terrorism charges against him, claimed there are "at least 19 paramlitary Muslim training facilities in the US... using paramilitary exercises to plan and execute" Charlie Hebdo-type attacks all over the country, and claimed, in 2005, "if the Democrats come into power ...we'll have 911s unabated."
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What Fox Isn't Telling You About Their Fraudulent CIA 'Expert,' Wayne Simmons - NewsHounds
Wayne Simmons of Annapolis, Maryland, portrayed himself as an "outside paramilitary special operations officer" for the Central Intelligence Agency from 1973 to 2000.
He allegedly tried to use that claim to get government security clearances and work as a defence contractor.
The 62-year-old was arrested on Thursday after a grand jury indicted him in relation to alleged misconduct, including major fraud and making false statements to the government.
The indictment said that Simmons falsely claimed on national security forms that his previous arrests and convictions were related to his CIA work and that he had held a top secret security clearance.
At one point he was deployed overseas as an intelligence adviser to senior military officers, the US attorney's office for Virginia's Eastern District said in a statement.
He has appeared on Fox News as a guest analyst on terrorism since 2002, a profile on Amazon.com said.
He also spoke at a 2013 forum sponsored by the Citizens Committee on Benghazi, probing the deaths of four Americans in Libya in 2012 and the role of then-secretary of state Hillary Clinton.
Fox News 'terror expert' Wayne Simmons arrested for lying about 27-year career as CIA officer - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
Besides his phony credentials, Simmons was obviously challenged by reality. In addition to endorsing torture (a plus for Fox News), Simmons wanted "American Taliban" John Walker Lindh executed by firing squad even after the Bush administration dropped terrorism charges against him, claimed there are "at least 19 paramlitary Muslim training facilities in the US... using paramilitary exercises to plan and execute" Charlie Hebdo-type attacks all over the country, and claimed, in 2005, "if the Democrats come into power ...we'll have 911s unabated."
more
What Fox Isn't Telling You About Their Fraudulent CIA 'Expert,' Wayne Simmons - NewsHounds
