Fox News host Neil Cavuto apologized on Friday for inviting on his show a man who is said to have falsely claimed that he worked for the CIA.
Wayne Simmons was arrested on Thursday for allegedly committing major fraud, wire fraud and making false statements to the government. Authorities also allege that Simmons falsely claimed that his criminal history was related to work done for the CIA.
A Fox News spokesperson told The Huffington Post on Thursday that Simmons was a guest on Fox, but not a paid contributor. But on Friday, Cavuto, who had interviewed Simmons on his show, took responsibility for not vetting him better.
"If it's true that all our due diligence and vetting on Mr. Simmons missed this, that's big and that's on me, and only me," Cavuto said. "You as viewers have little reason to be comforted by the excuse that Mr. Simmons might, and I stress might, have fooled many others, including no less than former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld."
On Friday, BuzzFeed reported that Simmons participated in a Pentagon program in which top Defense officials gave former military officers talking points for television.
Read more about Simmons' arrest here.
In addition to being interviewed by Cavuto, Simmons was also interviewed by Sean Hannity and appeared on "Fox & Friends."
Cavuto also said that he would work to earn back the trust of viewers.
"You have a right to expect that guests who appear here to be who they say they are here," he said. "Now it's a very rare slip-up, but it's a very big slip-up and I will make doubly sure something like this never, ever happens again. I value your trust, and I promise to work very hard to regain it."
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