Incompetent, unqualified, partisan, and fraudulent are some of the words associated with Donald Trump’s Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker, a man who appears to have been handpicked to help thwart the special counsel investigation(s) into Donald Trump’s crime family. From his sketchy work as an advisor to a Florida company currently fighting a $26 million settlement for defrauding customers to his atypical rise to acting attorney general, an appointment that may not even be constitutional.
Now another black mark on Whitaker’s resume has surfaced—he appears to have lied about being named an Academic All-American while playing football at the University of Iowa. From the Wall Street Journal:
Mr. Whitaker’s name doesn’t appear in the list of Academic All-Americans on the website of the organization that bestows the annual honor, the College Sports Information Directors of America. Another University of Iowa football player is on that list for 1992, the year that Mr. Whitaker has said he received the honor.
Barb Kowal, a spokeswoman for the awarding organization, also known as CoSIDA, said the group has no record that Mr. Whitaker was ever an Academic All-American.
Whitaker did accumulate some academic honors, but he never achieved the All-American status.
After checking with the University of Iowa, Ms. Kowal said that it appears that Mr. Whitaker was given a lower-level honor, selected to an All-District honor in one of eight regions around the U.S. Those selected in the regions are put on the national ballot, she said. From there, a small number of student-athletes from each sport are voted to be given the coveted Academic All-American status every year.
If you are wondering whether this resume lie is disqualifying, remember this is the highest law enforcement position in the land. A person’s honesty, integrity, and record matter. Whitaker’s honesty, integrity, and record are clearly not up for the job.