The mainstream media are relying on the testimony of a major Missouri felon to make the case that Arizona Republican voters are disenchanted with the GOP.
It appears mainstream fact-checkers may be on holiday in preparation for Election Day.
The Associated Press (AP) — followed by ABC News — released an article at the end of September claiming that Arizona’s Republican voters may cast their votes for Democratic candidates this year, including one 62-year-old man by the name of Winfield Morris.
AP characterized Morris as a southern Arizona “Republican farmer and rancher” with “businesses across the state” intent on voting for GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump but not for lower-ticket GOP candidates like Senate contender Kari Lake.
There’s a problem with AP’s characterization and its implications of Morris’ representation of Arizonans, GOP voters, or even local farmers: the only man fitting Morris’ description lived in Missouri until recently, and has a troubled past when it comes to presenting himself truthfully.
While in Missouri, Morris — full name “Dunard Winfield Morris II” — pled guilty to three felony charges of mail and wire fraud following his arrest for embezzling millions of dollars through his former employer. The GOP data center shows a “Dunard Winfield Morris” who registered to vote Republican in Gilbert and voted in the 2024 primary election.
An FBI press release from 2012 revealed that Morris unlawfully posed as a war hero. Although Morris claimed to have been a decorated Marine Corps veteran who achieved the rank of sergeant over two tours (1980 to 1984 and 1990 to 1992), which included being awarded the Navy Cross for extraordinary heroism during the Persian Gulf War, in reality he was discharged under other than honorable conditions for misconduct, and was never awarded the Navy Cross. The St. Louis Dispatch in an investigation of Morris’ background at the time found that Morris never had a second tour of duty and never attained that rank, per a Marine Corps spokesman.
“According to Marine Corps Maj. Shawn Haney, Morris served ‘approximately 1 year, 9 months of his obligated four years of active service’ and finished his duty on Sept. 15, 1983. His highest rank was lance corporal, but he was demoted to private shortly before his duty ended. He never served in a foreign country and received no awards,” stated the St. Louis Dispatch reporting.
Further investigation by the St. Louis Dispatch revealed that Morris fabricated almost the entirety of a resume used to seek employment after his arrest: a Master of Science degree in health care administration from St. Louis University; a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration, magna cum laude, from the University of Arizona; and candidacy for a Master of Science Health Policy & Economics degree at the London School of Economics.
Morris’ sister, Linda Morris Edwards, told the St. Louis Dispatch that her brother has been telling falsehoods since childhood.
“Dunard is a liar and has been a liar his whole entire life,” said Edwards. “He’s been a storyteller since he was a little tiny kid, and everyone thought it was funny — just big elaborate stories. … He didn’t hurt anybody. But he never stopped telling the stories.”
Court documents (USA v. Morris) revealed that Morris was sentenced in December 2012 to six-and-a-half years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. His supervision began in May 2017 and was set to expire May 2020. However, in early 2020, Morris’ probation was revoked. He was sentenced to another nine months in prison, with an additional sentencing of supervised release lasting 27 months.
The probation officer reported in his petitions to the court that Morris received permission to leave the state in order to follow up on an alleged referral for medical care in San Francisco, California. The officer said that Morris submitted fraudulent medical documents to claim a diagnosis of Stage III metastatic melanoma, resulting in delays to his status hearing. A staff member from the physician’s office that Morris claimed had given him his California referral for care reported “concerns regarding her safety” due to Morris’ incessant contacts with their office.
The probation officer’s petitions also noted that Morris claimed in January 2018 that he couldn’t afford the required $300 monthly restitution payments, only $50 per month. However the court learned later that year that Morris had opened a revolving credit card account and was added as an authorized user to his wife’s credit card. The officer reported in his second petition that Morris opened new revolving credit cards in January and February 2020. Morris was prohibited from incurring new credit charges or opening additional lines of credit without the approval of the probation office so long as there remained a balance on the court-imposed financial obligation.
The court also learned at the time that Morris filed a petition with the St. Louis County Circuit Court to change his name. He was required to notify the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri within 30 days of any change of name, residence, or mailing address until all fines, restitution, costs, and special assessments imposed by his judgment were fully paid.
His total restitution at the time of his second sentencing for violating parole amounted to over $5.6 million.
