Former ‘CIA operative’ at Fox News arrested
A commentator for a US news network has been arrested for allegedly fabricating a 27-year career with the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), according to federal prosecutors.
Wayne Simmons, a recurring guest on Fox News, was arrested by federal authorities on Thursday, the US Attorney’s Office for Virginia’s Eastern District said in a statement.
Simmons, 62, was indicted by a federal grand jury over the false CIA claims and made his initial court appearance in federal District Court in Alexandria, Virginia on Thursday afternoon.
He is charged with major fraud against the United States, making false statements and wire fraud. If convicted, he could face up to 35 years in prison.
A magistrate judge ordered him jailed in advance of a detention hearing Friday.
A resident of Annapolis, Maryland, Simmons is accused of falsely claiming that he worked as an "outside paramilitary special operations officer" for the CIA from 1973 to 2000.
He boasted on his website that he was recruited by the CIA from the US Navy in 1973. A Navy spokesman said the Navy could find no record that Simmons had ever served in that branch of the military.
He allegedly tried to use those claims to get government security clearances and work as a military contractor.
Simmons was able to briefly get actual security clearances and real Pentagon contracting work in recent years. At one point, he was deployed to Afghanistan as an intelligence adviser to senior US military personnel.
In his appearances on Fox News, Simmons often made extreme and factually unreliable statements relating to national security and terrorism.
Earlier this year, he claimed there were "at least 19 paramilitary Muslim training facilities in the United States."
Simmons also supported the use of waterboarding by the CIA against terrorism suspects during the George W. Bush administration and accused President Barack Obama of being a "novice" who lacks courage.
After the arrest was announced, a Fox News spokesperson said he was never a contributor for the network and that he made appearances only as a non-paid guest.
The federal indictment also alleges that Simmons defrauded an individual victim out of approximately $125,000 in connection with a bogus real estate investment, the US Attorney's Office said.
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