Matt Whitaker, the Acting Attorney General since Trump unceremoniously booted Jeff Sessions from the position and passed over his natural replacement because of the Russia investigation, is more than just a Trump apologist, it seems.
In fact, as it turns out, he’s a bit of a Matt Whitaker apologist.
In a bit of ironic birds-of-a-feather twist on the appointment of Whitaker, a new report out from the Wall Street Journal documents a curious lie told by the acting head of the DOJ — one he never needed to tell, much like most of the lies the President tells. The article details how Whitaker falsely claimed on official government documents and on his résumé that he was named an “Academic All-American” while he played football for the Hawkeyes at the University of Iowa.
The designation for the former Division I tight end would mean that his grades were so good during his active seasons with the team that he was considered an outstanding student-athlete, and thus named to the Academic All-America “team” comprised of other Division I football players who also maintained at least a 3.3 GPA while actively playing. In professional sports, it might be akin to being selected to the NFL Pro Bowl if the dream teams were made up of who the smartest players were.
Unfortunately, Whitaker’s fib was in claiming anything even remotely related to such an honor — because the organization, which was sponsored by GTE at the time Whitaker was a Hawkeye, says they have no record of any such thing.
Making him even more like the President, whose claims about being “at the top of his class at Wharton” have been disputed ever since he first uttered that nonsense in public, Whitaker’s lie has surfaced time and time again, including even on the Department of Justice website back in 2009.
Will he admit the truth about his past? Probably not. A spokeswoman for the DOJ, Kerri Kupac, attributed the misinformation to Whitaker’s use of a 1993 media guide which incorrectly listed him as having received the honor.
I know that IÂ personally would remember pretty clearly whether or not I had gotten one of the top honors available to college athletes, but Whitaker seems to have trouble.
Featured image via screen capture
