Usually what happens is you end up publishing it and then it pops up at you., What I would hope happensand it seems to me happens pretty much in every instancewhen the publishers find that [a book] has real flaws, problems, or inaccuracies, most often they end up taking it off the market. As for any lasting fallout from the fakes that make it through, Entrekin calls the backlash just another tiny chip in the wall., After the Outside article appeared, Baerwho is featured on the jacket and within the textassumed that the book would be buried. He liked to tell one about being shot with an AK-47 in the shoulder. Paramount Its not clear what HarperCollins has done in the year-long pushback from the original release date. And Im like, well, thats nice, but Im in a luxury hotel. If that happened, you were told, exciting work would follow: protecting a cargo shipment in the Middle East, say, or running special missions deep inside a war-torn African nation. Fired from Blackwater after a short tenure? Former SCG employees later found themselves online, featured in a training video for a new company called Gray Solutions. They were scared to death about being on the Oprah Winfrey Show and someone dissecting this.. A few years after Smiths 1993 graduation from Ole Miss, he entered law school at Regent University in Virginia Beach, an institution created by televangelist Pat Robertson. He was an extraordinarily good storyteller and if he had written a story of redemption about his contracting work and the rest of it, it would have been brilliant.. Just when things looked bleakest, Smiths luck turned. But in the e-mail exchanges with Titus, the $12.5 million is never described as belonging to the Sanfords. It was all done so easily and with no risk. A follow-up email to Smiths representative, Steve Honig, asking for the name of his agency supervisor, or any agency employee who might be able to verify his service, was similarly dismissed. The continuation of "The Godfather" saga, "Part II" featured a scene where antagonist Hyman Roth was assassinated in a nearly identical way to Lee Harvey Oswald. Outside regrets the error. In Gray Work, Smith recounts his exploits as a CIA-trained spy working for the State Department and how he co-founded Blackwater after 9/11, as well as his decision to leave the private security firm. Another: Never give up your cover story. What could possibly go wrong? After depositing an SCG paycheck that summer, Charles Cusanno took his family to Disney World, only to come home to massive overdraft notices. Plenty of people believed him, including the Air Force (which paid him $7 million to train personnel . All Smith had to do was provide the name of someone he worked with in the CIA who could vouch for him. The big new SCG compound was situated near the crossroads of Mississippi Highway 7 and U.S. Highway 78. Then he asked, Where in the name of God does a creep like this guy come from?. Warner Bros. But a call to Ole Miss showed he graduated on time with no break in his education, according to Danny Blanton, the universitys director of public relations. He argues that this gray area-and its warriors who occupy the controversial space between public and private-has become an indispensable element of the modern battlefield. Titus was an old pal of Smiths who had helped him during some tough financial times. Touchstone He was clean-cut, with perfect hair. His whole room looked like a war room. Join Outside+ to get Outside magazine, access to exclusive content, 1,000s of training plans, and more. I was hoping he would have had a come-to-God moment, says the man whose own name is used to lend credibility to Smiths tales. He has a history of fantasy and not paying his employees. He did not respond. Gray Work was originally scheduled for publication in spring 2014. Next Slide During the prime years of SCG, from 2008 to 2010, Smith put on seminars for local law enforcement and submitted more bids to the Pentagon. I just never thought it was going to get published.. Just a few years out of Ole Miss, Fisher attended a summertime service at a Memphis megachurch, where he saw Jamie and Todd Smith. Our campaign is focused on SD because we firmly believe the DC-style politics conducted by our current governor is not what our state is about. And he does this and hes a CIA and all this. Smiths editors wouldnt reply to requests for comments on the editing process or whether Smiths book had been checked for accuracy. The Sanfords werent the only people who say they were taken in. After that he started buying things, paying $41,200 in cash for a Mercedes, $4,475 to upgrade Allisons wedding ring, and $350 for tanning. A man who is obsessed with conspiracy theories finds himself a target when one of his hypotheses turns out to be true. Not long after that, Smith arrived at an Air Force training session in Fort Dix, still driving his big Mercedes. In 2010, Smiths Pennsylvania victims sued to get their money back. Jamie Smitha man who would say under oath that he wrote the curriculum the Marines use to protect generals and colonels overseaswas apparently scared of a 55-year-old Pennsylvania mechanic with a heart condition. When he stared down Jamie among the flags and the hymnals, Jamie just smiled and put a finger to his lips. A man who is obsessed with conspiracy theories finds himself a target when one of his hypotheses turns out to be true. He was never a covert agent, he admitted, but he insisted hed worked for the CIA in some unspecified capacity. They didnt call me up and say, What do you think about him now? They could have. While you pretended during exercises that the DROKs dangers were real, you had to ignore the fact that Holly Springs was actually a quaint little town known for soul food, a 24/7 Elvis shrine called Graceland Too, and antebellum homes that survived Civil War occupation by Union troops. I just never could take him seriously.. After all his co-workers are killed, a CIA agent, played by Robert Redford, doesn't know who he can trust as he tries to solve the mystery. In his book and in interviews, Smith dismisses questions about his past. Letters between the Mississippi National Guard and his military-science professor at Ole Miss say that Smith would not cooperate and had his own priorities. He was cited with voluntary breach of contract because of a willful evasion of training., When we asked a spokesman for the Guard why Smith wasnt forced to honor his legal commitment, he said, Looks like we didnt want a problem child.. *The print version of this story incorrectly referred to the National Clandestine Service as the National Security Service. Jamie Smith, a self-described CIA operative and co-founder of private military company Blackwater, has optioned his just-published memoir "Gray Work: Confessions of an American Paramilitary. Syriana (2005) In 2011, after a Virginia civil-court jury said Smith defrauded the Sanfords, the Air Force banned SCG from obtaining contracts for three years. So were his old friends back at South Panola. The Outside piece I thought was devastating, Baer said. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy. Finances Cost per Session: $150 On July 3, 2009, he rappelled into the sanctuary of a Virginia megachurch as flags unfurled and The Stars and Stripes Forever played. Smith could sue him for that, Titus said, and for defamation. I got to thinking, Hes smart, hes got a law degree, Smith testified during a hearing before Tituss fraud trial, hes got way more experience at those types of things than I have, and I had some, you know, just some basic things that I needed done.. For a young adult venturing out to their first apartment, this virtual design project captures her creative, free spirit, love of the beach, and . IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. One of his former bosses at the firm, Gary Jackson, describes Smith as a low-level administrator in the months following 9/11. This fall was supposed to mark Smiths return to glory. I served as an Intelligence Officer in the Counter Terrorism Division. Jurors didnt buy it. He could have used the cash to build SCG into a sustainable business that earned consistent profits. That should be ample assurance for anyone.. They didnt call my agent. In October 2012 the government shut down his lucrative contracting business. Outside's long reads email newsletter features our strongest writing, most ambitious reporting, and award-winning storytelling about the outdoors. He could have invested themin some kind of overseas or domestic accountand taken a healthy fee before returning the money with interest, which is how the deal was supposed to work. As the founder and director of Blackwater Security, Smith's initial vision has undeniably shaped and transformed a decade of war. Cusanno was angry. If you displayed some talent, you might get a nod from one of SCGs professional tough guyslawmen and military veterans who could, if they wanted, find you a job with the company someday. To be an eligible applicant to be a CIA officer, You have to be a college graduate. But he was happy to stop in and say hello to his old friend Boudreau and perhaps talk to local police about their training. Smith is an executive board member and former teacher's union representative for the Puyallup Education Association and has spent almost two decades as a teacher in local high schools. Morgan says he made one call and Jamie never appeared on Fox again. Unlike an executive who claims to have been employed by IBM for 25 years and whose claim is challenged, Defendants quickly realized that Smith was under a tremendous handicap. Does that mean theyre James Bond?. The continuation of "The Godfather" saga, "Part II" featured a scene where antagonist Hyman Roth was assassinated in a nearly identical way to Lee Harvey Oswald. Crump Place, the mansion in Holly Springs, went on the market with peeling paint and an unkempt lawn. During and after that first encounter in Pennsylvania, he assured the Sanfords that Smith was the real deala former CIA field man, Harvard educated, who had started his career as a Navy Seal. There was no magic in what we built. As for the Sanfords, it took a while, but they eventually realized there might be a problem. Did Jamie rip them off? In August of 2011, Smiths troubles compounded rapidly when he was called to testify in the Sanfords fraud suit against him, which was heard in federal court in Virginia Beach. Men were shot. He sounded like that guy from Despicable Me., Cusanno was paid $1,800 a week to train Air Force personnel. You can beat me up all you want to, he said. After his legal training ended, Smith took a job with a law firm in Jackson, Mississippi. To further beef up the team, Smith hired a right-hand man named Dion DeLaurentis, who wore full-arm tattoos and a carefully groomed beard. The sole job of the CIA review board, as explained in a post by John Hollister Hedley, then-director of the review board, is to assist authors in avoiding inadvertent disclosure of classified information which, if disclosed, would be damaging to national securityjust that and nothing more.. Walter Morgan, a classmate of Smiths in high school and at Ole Miss, recalls spotting Smith on Fox News one morning and nearly falling out of his chair. I know God has honored your faith and compassion in this situation and I am confident that He will continue to do so, Titus wrote in June 2009, several weeks after the note was due. Shhh. In August 2011 a federal jury found that hed bilked a retired couple out of their savings. It just doesnt happen. Even when the bastards are onto you, stick with it. Many people there remember Jamie: his dad ran Batesvilles biggest dry cleaners for years, and the family was active in the First Baptist Church. 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