The Texas elector who cited his experience as a 9/11 first responder for his refusal to vote for President-elect Donald Trump appears to have fabricated the entire thing, according to an investigation by local news outlet WFAA.
Chris Suprun said he responded with the Manassas Park, Va., fire department after the third plane hit the Pentagon during the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. But WFAA’s investigation reveals that the department wasn’t among those responding to the attacks. What’s more, Suprun didn’t even join the fire department until October 2001 — a month after after the attacks.
“Fifteen years ago, as a firefighter, I was part of the response to the Sept. 11 attacks against our nation,” Suprun wrote in a New York Times op-ed announcing he would not be casting his vote for Trump when the electors meet on Dec. 19.
“It’s no different than stolen valor for the military; dressing up and saying ‘Hey, I earned a Purple Heart’ when you weren’t even in combat.’ There’s a big difference between shopping at Old Navy and being a Navy SEAL,” one first responder told WFAA (RELATED: White House, Clinton Tied To PR Firm Behind Electoral College Push)
Suprun’s 9/11 falsehood doesn’t appear to be the only fabrication on his resume, either. EMS Freedom, the company where Suprun claims he is currently a paramedic actually closed down in 2008, according to WFAA’s investigation. Another company where Suprun also claims to be employed, Air Methods ambulance services, says he doesn’t actually work there. Suprun collected unemployment during the time period he claims to have been working, according to WFAA’s review of federal court records.
Suprun changed part of his story in an interview with TheDC last week, claiming that watching vice president-elect Mike Pence defend Trump’s claim that millions of illegal voters was what lead him to change his mind and not vote for Trump. But in his op-ed for the Times, Suprun mentioned neither Trump’s claim nor Pence’s defense of that claim in his op-ed titled, “Why I Will Not Cast My Electoral Vote For Donald Trump.” (RELATED: ‘Faithless Elector’ Now Blames Mike Pence For Vote Switch)
Megaphone Strategies, the public relations firm representing Suprun and other electors, is rife with ties to prominent Democrats like President Obama and Hillary Clinton.
The firm typically represents leftist groups like Black Lives Matter and was co-founded by former Obama green jobs czar Van Jones, who now works for CNN as a commentator.
