This Wingnut Terrorism ‘Expert’ Is A Fraud (AUDIO)

Whenever right-wing radio hosts and podcast hosts–particularly religious right hosts–want someone to deliver “analysis” on the terrorism threat, they usually call on counterterrorism consultant and former FBI agent John Guandolo.


Without fail, Guandolo’s commentary is laden with red meat warnings about jihadists under every rock. Lately, he has taken to claiming that the resistance to Donald Trump is a stalking horse for ISIS and other Islamist outfits. He has also argued that when a man drove his van through several innocent people near a London mosque, the neighborhood’s residents were simply taking matters into their own hands when their government wouldn’t protect them from the terrorists in their midst.

An appearance on VCY America, a Milwaukee-based Christian radio network, was typical. On “Crosstalk,” VCY America’s flagship radio program, Guandolo warned about an Islamist effort to take over whole towns. People for the American Way’s Right Wing Watch got a clip.

Guandolo told host Jim Schneider that Muslims have recently embarked on “civilization jihad”–a process of settling into non-Muslim territory that mimics Muhammad’s trek from Mecca to Medina. He then claimed that such efforts as “interfaith outreach” between Muslims and other communities, as well as Muslim Student Associations on college campuses, are part of this Islamist effort to take over communities. It’s part of his standard schtick over the years, in which he claims that every major Muslim organization in this country is a front for Islamist organizations who want to establish sharia law in this country.

All of this fearmongering would be outrageous enough by itself. But it is even more so when you consider that Guandolo’s entire brand is built on a transparent lie. For years, Guandolo has claimed that he was pushed out of the FBI in 2008 after he learned the FBI had been taken over by the Muslim Brotherhood and wouldn’t shut up about it. But, as they say, truth is stranger than fiction. In this case, a lot stranger.

In late 2008, Guandolo’s bosses at the FBI discovered a list Guandolo had created detailing his affairs with female colleagues. That list also revealed Guandolo had carried on an affair with “a confidential source he thought could damage an investigation.” The FBI’s Office of Professional Responsibility opened an internal review. However, Guandolo knew how that review would end, and resigned sometime around December 1, 2008.


There the matter rested until June 2009, when federal prosecutors in Alexandria, Virginia learned that the “confidential source” was Lori Mody, a Northern Virginia businesswoman who was slated to be the government’s star witness in the corruption trial of former Congressman William “Dollar Bill” Jefferson. Mody had triggered the investigation in 2005 when she told the FBI that Jefferson had defrauded her. She agreed to wear a wire, and many of the conversations she recorded with Jefferson during the spring and summer of 2005 formed much of the basis for the government case. For instance, much of the money found in Jefferson’s freezer in an FBI raid had been given to him by Mody.

Shortly before the trial, Mody alerted one of the case agents, Timothy Thibault, that she had carried on an affair with Guandolo while he posed as her chauffeur during the Jefferson sting. Mody said that they were “mildly intimate” when Mody came to New Orleans in April 2005, though she spurned a number of advances Guandolo made toward her. On at least one of those occasions, Mody said Guandolo had been “inappropriately aggressive.” They met again in May 2005, during which they had intercourse. Mody also recalled that in May 2006, Guandolo asked her to donate $75,000 to a counterterrorism organization; she declined.

When Guandolo’s former colleagues confronted him, Guandolo admitted that he had indeed carried on an affair with Mody for about “a couple of months,” according to an FBI transcript of the interview. He also expressed “deep remorse” for his behavior. The government was so alarmed at this development that it filed a sealed submission detailing these revelations in the event that it could be considered exculpatory information that had to be turned over to the defense.

Partly due to this, the government opted not to have Mody take the stand at Jefferson’s trial, though it entered her recordings into evidence. Partly on the strength of those tapes, Jefferson was convicted in August 2009 on 11 counts of corruption. His attorneys tried to have the verdict thrown out, in part because they felt they should have had a chance to plumb Guandolo’s behavior. However, in September 2009, federal judge T. S. Ellis III rebuffed them, and in November, Jefferson was sentenced to 13 years in federal prison. He only began serving that sentence in 2012 after all of his appeals ran out.

The public only learned about Guandolo’s outrageous behavior when the government’s submission was unsealed on the same day Ellis refused to grant a new trial. Legal experts were aghast. Jonathan Turley of George Washington University said that it was “unbelievable” that the FBI didn’t tell prosecutors or the court about Guandolo’s affair with Mody right away. He added that, at the very least, it raised serious questions about the bureau’s culture.

All of this information has been available for the better part of a decade. And yet, in the absence of something we haven’t heard or seen, none of the right-wing pundits who sing Guandolo’s praises–like David Barton, Jim Bakker, Sam Rohrer, Rick Wiles, and others–have bothered to check it. It is simply unbelievable that no one has bothered to do so. At this point, you have to wonder if this is something more than willful blindness.


Guandolo said in 2009 that his life is “an open book,” and he is more than willing to “answer any questions” about his affair with Mody. Well, John, here’s your chance. If you have anything in you, sir, it’s time to tell the truth. After all, it is clear beyond any doubt that you are not a patriotic whistleblower. You are a fraudster and a liar who has been pulling a fast one on the American people for a decade.

(featured image: screengrab via YouTube)

Darrell is a 30-something graduate of the University of North Carolina who considers himself a journalist of the old school. An attempt to turn him into a member of the religious right in college only succeeded in turning him into the religious right's worst nightmare--a charismatic Christian who is an unapologetic liberal. His desire to stand up for those who have been scared into silence only increased when he survived an abusive three-year marriage. You may know him on Daily Kos as Christian Dem in NC. Follow him on Twitter @DarrellLucus or connect with him on Facebook. Click here to buy Darrell a Mello Yello.