Accuracy in Media (AIM) has removed Wayne Simmons (62) from its Benghazi commission after he was arrested on “charges of major fraud against the United States, wire fraud, and making false statements to the government,” including allegedly falsely claiming he worked for the CIA, reports Media Matters. Simmons is the guy who scared the wits out of Fox news viewers by telling them fantastical tales such as the one about “at least 19 paramilitary Muslim training facilities in the United States.”
Simmons was a frequent guest on Fox News, where he pridefully boasted about his expertise as a former CIA officer, while Fox News anchors like Neal Cavuto lapped it up. Now Simmons is sitting in jail, facing 35 years in federal prison. The charges against him include major fraud against the United States, wire fraud, and making false statements to the government.
The wire fraud charge alleges that Simmons “defrauded an individual victim out of approximately $125,000 in connection with a bogus real estate investment.”
AIM describes Simmons as having “spent 27 years working with the CIA to combat terrorism, narcoterrorism and narcotics trafficking, arms smuggling, counterfeiting, cyber-terrorists, and industrial and economic espionage,” and that he “has been a Terrorism Analyst for the Fox News Channel since 2002.”
Fox News spokesperson Irena Briganti told CNN that he “was never a contributor for Fox News,” and described hims as a “non-paid guest.”