Questions about Wes Moore’s integrity arise anew after 2006 report surfaces

Gov. Wes Moore claimed in a 2006 document that he earned a Bronze Star for his service in Afghanistan, a medal that he never received, according to a report Thursday in The New York Times.

In a 2006 application to the White House Fellowship program unearthed by The Times, Moore claimed that as a result of his work as a director of information operations during the war in Afghanistan, “the 82nd Airborne Division have awarded me the Bronze Star Medal and the Combat Action Badge.”

His resume with that application also claimed that Moore, then a captain in the Army, had received the Maryland College Football Hall of Fame Award. There is no such award.

Both misstatements were explained away in the Times’ story by Moore’s superiors at the time — his commanding officer in Afghanistan and a coach on the Johns Hopkins University football team, where Moore was a player — as additions they insisted he make, on the expectation that he would receive the honors.

In a statement Thursday in response to the article, Moore said he was sorry he had not spoken up before this to correct the record. But he also went on the offensive, saying he would “once again, set the record straight, as people hunt for new ways to undermine my service to our country in uniform.”

“Over the last few weeks, our country has grown used to seeing what it looks like when a veteran’s integrity is attacked for political gain,” said the statement from Moore, who has been called on in recent weeks as a proxy to defend Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz over questions about Walz’s military record.

“It was an honest mistake, and I regret not making that correction,” Moore said about the claim of having earned a Bronze Star. “But do not think for a moment that this attack on my record holds any bearing on how I feel about my service, my soldiers, or our country.”

This is not the first time questions have been raised about Moore’s military record. In past interviews, with Gwen Ifill and Stephen Colbert, Moore was introduced as a Bronze Star recipient and he did not correct the misstatements, according to the Times.

Questions about the Bronze Star also came up during Moore’s 2022 campaign for governor, and he insisted at the time that he had never claimed himself to have won the award, only that he failed to correct the mistake in others.

“Of the hundreds of interviews that I have given, the idea of pulling together a couple where I did not correct a reporter or correct an interviewer, it just continues to highlight a measure of desperation in the attacks,” Moore said during an April 2022 campaign event.

Moore told the Times that he forgot he had claimed on his White House Fellowship application to have won the Bronze Star, and that it was a surprise to him when he saw the paperwork this week.

The reaction from Maryland elected officials who had seen the story, including some who are military veterans, was similar to Moore’s explanation: It was a simple mistake that Moore compounded by not correcting it in the intervening years, they said.

Sen. William C. Smith Jr. (D-Montgomery County), a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy Reserve, noted that it was Lt. Gen. Michael Fenzel, who was a lieutenant colonel and Moore’s superior in Afghanistan at the time of the White House application, who told Moore to put the Bronze Star on his application.

Fenzel told the Times that while the medal had not been awarded at the time, he and every other officer who needed to sign off on the award had done so, and he assumed it was coming through. Fenzel said he only learned this week that the medal was not awarded.

“When you’re evaluating someone, you should make sure you understand the full record,” Smith said Thursday of the latest furor. “As you look at the full record, you see a brigade commander signed him off to get [Moore] processed.

“He has been cleared all the way through for that. He has not misrepresented his record in any form or fashion,” said Smith, the chair of the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee.

Most of Moore’s defenders focused on his service and said that should be weighed against the Bronze Star claim.

Sen. Nick Charles (D-Prince George’s), who served in the Air Force from 2001 to 2006, defended Moore in an Instagram post.

“While on Active Duty in the Air Force. I served with some brave men and women. Now, here at home I’m proud to serve and stand with a brave Governor, @iamwesmoore. Wes, we are with you, and you have air cover from me,” Charles’ post said.

Other Democrats rallied around the governor.

Del. Diana M. Fennell (D-Prince George’s), a member of the legislature’s Veterans Caucus, said Thursday that she had not looked closely into the issue, but trusts Moore’s account.

“I believe whatever he said, because he’s such a wonderful person,” she said. “He was in the military and that’s what matters.”

Smith called Moore not only “a veteran who has served in a combat zone putting his life on the line, but he has been the most pro-veteran governor we have ever had.”

“He has used his position as governor to further the interest of all veterans in Maryland. Not only did he put his life on the line leading troops in a combat zone, but he’s now continuing to serve veterans,” Smith said. “To my mind, he’s a patriot and his service should be honored and commended.”

But Doug Mayer, a political strategist with Strategic Partners and Media, said that while the Bronze Star on the White House application may be a minor infraction, it “could speak to his [Moore’s] character” in a larger way. Mayer, who served as communications director for former Gov. Larry Hogan (R), pointed to other questions that have been raised about Moore, including claims that his memoir, “The Other Wes Moore,” exaggerated the amount of time he spent in Baltimore growing up.

“What I hope this does, for everyone’s sake, is rip off the Band-Aid of invincibility and nonsense that surrounds this guy,” Mayer said.

State Senate Minority Leader Stephen Hershey (R-Upper Shore) said questions of Moore’s integrity are a concern — but not the biggest concern he has with the Democratic governor.

“Honestly, I’m more concerned about how he’s governing the State of Maryland than I am about this,” Hershey said in a text message Thursday.

Maryland Matters is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Maryland Matters maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Steve Crane for questions: editor@marylandmatters.org. Follow Maryland Matters on Facebook and X.