Outrage – Scott Taylor Caught Lying About His Military Record

Soldier FOR Fortune: Scott Taylor Lies About Military Career, Exploits Navy SEALs for Cash

Is Scott Taylor telling the truth about his military record?

Voters have already learned that Taylor lied about attending Harvard, lied about his failed businesses and $1.4 million in legal judgments, and hid his 12 criminal/traffic convictions from public view.

As the Virginian Pilot reported in June, Scott Taylor didn’t pay his business lease for more than a year, packed up his equipment in the dead of night then sold it to himself under a new company name to avoid his creditors.

Now it has become abundantly clear that the same greedy, self-serving ethics Taylor employed in his failed businesses and personal behavior were at work during his stint as a Navy SEAL and continue to this day.

Since Scott Taylor won’t release his military records, all voters know about him comes from his campaign literature, which sings praises to his “bravery,” “duty,” “honor,” “sacrifice,” and “leadership.”

Taylor talks repeatedly about having been “injured on a combat mission,” claims he “bled for his country,” and — taken directly from a Taylor mailer below — “served in Operation Iraqi Freedom where he was seriously injured.”

Purple Hearts are awarded to soldiers for the heroics Taylor claims to have performed. But did Scott Taylor receive any medals for his service with the SEALs? As this record provided by the National Archive states – None.

There it is in black and white, straight from the source.  If Taylor did not receive a Purple Heart then it is obvious he was never “seriously injured” in combat or “bled for his country.”

Taylor’s failure to earn medals or distinctions throughout his SEAL career speaks volumes. SEALs are also awarded a medal for the completion of a deployment, so where is Taylor’s medal for that?  Or is it true, as we have heard from numerous SEALs who worked with Taylor, that they do not remember him completing a deployment as numerous times he made excuses to return early due to “personal problems”.

It is beyond disturbing that a person who seeks public office would so blatantly lie regarding his qualifications and accomplishments.  Scott Taylor once again has shown himself to be a fundamentally dishonest person unsuited for public office. His need to lie not only exposes his lack of integrity, but the his inability to run on his record without significant enhancement at the expense of the truth.

Sadly, Taylor’s lies hurt everybody. While brave SEALs have fought and died to keep America free, Scott Taylor merely fabricates myths to further his political career, just like he lied about  graduating from Harvard.

Military records also refute claims by Taylor that he was a Navy SEAL sniper, which he made in an email blast March 1, 2010 during his failed campaign for Congress.  His record shows no sniper training, which is required for such an assignment. Taylor lies with such ease, it gets less and less surprising each time another of his lies is exposed.

But just how low will Taylor go to further his political ambitions?  Believe it or not, it gets worse…

While Taylor talks of honor and loyalty to the SEALs, the truth is Taylor was kicked off the board of the UDT/SEAL Association for using a private email list to solicit support for his Congressional campaign. How “honorable.”

Even though Taylor served in the SEALs without distinction or recognition, today he serves as President of the OPSEC fund, a 501(c)(4) PAC which he helped form and which promotes itself as an education fund admonishing President Obama for releasing classified military intelligence. But Taylor himself profited by appearing on the Discovery Channel’s “Secrets of Seal Team 6,” despite the Pentagon urging him not to go public with information about the SEALs and their operations.

Scott Taylor appearing in ‘Secrets of Seal Team 6’

But going public is what Taylor does best. As President of OPSEC, Taylor has shamelessly promoted himself as a SEAL “expert,” appearing on numerous TV programs, and then uses these appearances to make fundraising appeals on behalf of OPSEC and his own political campaigns. Where the money goes from there is anyone’s guess.

OPSEC has raised a substantial amount of money, yet FEC expenditure reports offer little detail about who and what individuals are benefitting.  Even this 35 page finance report offers few actual details beyond the names of companies who received large pay-offs.

Taylor’s current campaign has received $12,275.00 in donations so far from OPSEC, demonstrating once again that Taylor is using his reputation as a SEAL for financial and political benefit.

OPSEC has already been cited numerous times by the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) for non-compliance.  Will Taylor release a detailed audit of OPSEC’s finances so their donors and Virginia voters can SEE where the money is going?  With two home foreclosures, an eviction from his business lease and more than $1 million in legal judgments awarded against him, don’t voters have the RIGHT to know how Taylor is managing the finances of his “educational” PAC and if he himself is personally profiting?

Taylor’s reputation among the SEAL community is well known, and a source of much frustration for SEALs who honor the SEAL creed by doing their job in anonymity, while watching Taylor shamelessly promote himself as a SEAL “expert” for personal gain.

One SEAL who knows Taylor volunteered to share some insight on his military career and personal behavior off the record. Chances are if you know a SEAL or talk to one in private, you’ll hear much the same thing:

“I worked closely with Scott Taylor for the brief time he was stationed at Little Creek. Taylor has always had a hard time keeping his priorities straight. For instance, he would rather pay money to hide his Google search engine results and pay for YouTube hits on his OPSEC video instead of pay his bills.  He also characteristically pays for drinks running up large tabs to give the [appearance] of financial stability.  The ‘the real estate market is against me’ has been his standby excuse since the market turned back in early 2000.  He can find the money to pay for leisure trips and lend money to his political ventures, but is still unable to pay the mortgage on his primary residence and the lease on his business.  I think we are all just glad his deception caught up with him.  There is nothing worse than being in a situation where your position requires your anonymity yet your integrity wants to set the record straight.  Taylor has been embarrassing the SEAL name for a while now, he holds his security in the fact we respect our job and refuse to broadcast it to the world. It is just disappointing how the American people look for idols who publicize they were once a Navy SEAL. There are good guys out there helping us.  And then there are the others, whose reputation in the Teams was below par but gets out to make a dollar falsely claiming he speaks for all of us.  We speak for ourselves, and we remain anonymous for a reason.  We are not media hounds who want you to donate to our political ventures, we are here to keep you safe, and everything we do should remain silent.  Those who capitalize off of their former SEAL status do so at the cost of our security.  If they would take the time to speak with active duty SEALs and their families they would realize this, but they are too busy looking for a buck.”

– M.B., former SEAL, Team 4**Note to media outlets: The source of the above quote from a former Navy Seal will be made available on condition of anonymity

This is the REAL Scott Taylor military record: lying about his achievements while exploiting the SEALS to profit personally and politically. How disgraceful!

Confirmed by someone who knows and worked with Scott Taylor: Financial recklessness, a shameless self-promotion, complete disregard for truth and honor. Now you know the REAL Scott Taylor too.