The Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested Fox News commentator, Benghazi truther, and "former CIA operative" Wayne Simmons today because he is not, in fact, a former CIA operative.
Simmons has been hit with a laundry list of charges ranging from fraud to making false statements.
Wayne Simmons, a 62-year-old who lives in Annapolis, Maryland, was arrested by federal authorities following his indictment by a federal grand jury for allegedly committing major fraud, wire fraud, and making false statements to the government. Simmons claims to have worked for the 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 a press release from the U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia.
As Ryan J. Reilly writing for the Huffington Post points out, Simmons is a member of the so-called "Citizens Commission on Benghazi" which is more or less a panel of conspiracy theorist who, among other things, believe President Obama somehow orchestrated the attack.
You may recall that in January of this year a rumor was disseminated on the right claiming there are "at least 19 paramilitary Muslim training facilities in the United States," including locations in New York, Michigan, and Minnesota, and that some of these areas are considered to be Muslim "no-go zones" where Sharia Law is supreme and local law enforcement dare not tread.
That rumor, which can count Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal among its true believers, was spread by fake CIA operative and Fox News "terrorism analyst" Wayne Simmons during an appearance on the network.
This is yet another black eye for the Select Committee on Benghazi. Simmons obviously isn't a member of that committee however the committee's existence is largely owed to persistent conspiracy theories surrounding the attack on the American embassy. The idea that "the truth" has been hidden from the victims' families can be traced to fake experts and commentators who exert a significant amount of influence over congressional Republican opinion and actions.
Fox News is now downplaying Simmons' role at the network, however there's no denying his contributions to some of the most ridiculous theories aired on Fox in recent memory.