That's not the first time that there have been questions about his military record, accusations that he may have embellished that record. Well, that's right. He faced similar accusations during his first race for Congress in 2006, when people, critics, alleged that the way that his campaign talked about his service gave a misleading impression that he had served in the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan, while he served in Italy, supporting the operation in Afghanistan. Now, Walls had to put out multiple statements to newspapers, responding to basically letters to the editor that people wrote accusing him of misleading his service. I'm going to read a couple of the quotes for people of what people were saying about Walls at the time. One of them said, It strongly suggests that he fought in Iraq or Afghanistan, but does not say which country. And another read, Through artful admission, Walsh is leaving the impression that he served in combat zones or of the current conflict. Now, what were they responding to? They were responding to the language on his website at the time, and they were responding to his ads. I'm going to read and lay out the website language so people can make up their own minds here.

This is what the website said. It said, Prior to retiring, Walsh served overseas with his battalion in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Now take a listen to his campaign ads talked about his service.

Sometimes an everyday person comes along and helps put the impossible within our reach. The coach who could see a championship three years before the big game. The teacher who inspires generations one by one. The soldier who served for two decades but ready when they attacked. Command Sergeant Major, retiring four years late after a tour supporting the war in Afghanistan.

We have all of these moments back in 2006 that you just laid out. What was the response then from Governor Walls? These letters and these claims that he was misrepresenting his service in 2006, they received a lot of pushback from both him supporters and him himself. In fact, he took these allegations so seriously that he responded in both local papers. I'm going to read what he said in both instances. Here's what he said in July 2006. He said, On Saturday, the Free Press printed a letter which implied I embellished my military record. The details of my record can be easily found in numerous articles by the Free Pest and other newspapers. Therefore, I must assume that this letter is meant to slander my good name. For the record, I served 24 years in the army National Guard and retired as a Command Sergeant Major. In May of 2005, I served in three NATO missions to the Arctic, deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, serving Italy in 2003 and 2004. Using innuendo to defame A candidate's character has no place in this debate. This nation must do better because we have many important issues to face.

That was how he responded to one of those editorials. Then in November of 2006, there was another editorial that made a similar claim, and he responded by saying, If you were confused about my service, you could have checked. My website simply had the decency to call me and ask. And when you dishonor a veteran, you dishonor all soldiers and veterans. You owe an apology to all those who serve honorably. I I think something that is important for us to note here, too, is people, even if people took away from those ads that they thought he was leaving open, that he served in Iraq or Afghanistan. In interviews that we looked, he did describe his service accurately, including saying in one, I did 10 months with Operation Enduring Freedom, where by the luck of the draw, I served in Italy.

Based on everything you've heard now, what is your feeling on how Governor Walsh has depicted his I think it's just fine.

I mean, look, first off, let me just say I'm scared to death that now anybody that ever served in the military is not going to want to run for office because then they look over everything you've ever said. Can you unfairly attack somebody for something? Then it becomes a headline story. What are we doing here? We're discouraging people with service. Look, Tim Walls had every right after 20 years to retire from the Army National Guard. He chose to retire before his unit was alerted. He chose to retire while he ran for Congress. He had every right to do that. It is absolutely insane that people would say otherwise. I mean, look, if he was leaving the unit high and dry, like some people are out there saying, the guard can stop loss you, which means you cannot retire. You have to stay because they need that position. But as you mentioned, he obviously was replaced by somebody, plenty capable. He did his 24 years, which is four years after 9/11, by the way. He was always within a deployment window until he made a decision to quit. Everybody, after 20 years, has a right to quit.

We're not attacking JD Vance, nor should we, by the way, for not reenlisting in the Marine Corps because he did his duty and he was done. Well, this is the same thing with Walls right now.

Scott.

A couple of things. Number one, I think anybody who puts on the uniform, Adam Kinzinger, Walls, Vance, and anybody else who puts on the uniform deserves our thanks. They're heroes. They protect our freedoms. I think that ought to be said up when we're having these debates. Number two, I think anybody who goes into politics is going to have their record scrutinized. I think it's pretty clear evidence laying out there now that at times, walls may have embellished his record. Now, you can decide that's not a big deal. You can say it is a huge deal. You can say you don't care about it. But when you go into politics, you are going to have your record scrutinized. It doesn't minimize the fact that he served honorably for over 20 years. But when you get into the political arena, everything you've ever done is going to be looked over. So I think it's fully appropriate for them to look at Walsh's record. They're looking over everything JD Vance ever said about himself. I think they're going to look over everything Walsh said about himself.

Congressman, just the sound from Walsh saying that he carried a weapon in war. Do you take issue with that?

I mean, he probably shouldn't have said it. But keep in mind, when he was in Italy, he was actually probably technically under Operation Enduring Freedom, which was anybody that deployed to that area was part of a contingency operation, which is the war in Afghanistan. So I guess technically, you could say it. He obviously shouldn't have said that. But that's one comment. After 24 years of military service, when he retired honorably, and look, I agree with Scott, you can expect to have your military record looked at. But where You should be attacked as if you were dishonorably discharged, if you lied about what you did for a job, or if you're running for President of the United States again, and when your country needed you, you let your country down by running away from the draft. You want to say that Tim Walls, somehow avoided deploying with his unit and let his unit down? Fine. I totally don't agree. That's crap. But listen, Donald Trump fled the draft when his country needed him. He and JD Vance, who was his number two, have no right to go after anybody when the number one on the ticket was too scared to serve in Vietnam in fake medical condition.

Anything in that, Scott?

Adam was obviously a surrogate for President Biden before he dropped out of the race. I've always wondered people who've attacked Donald Trump for getting out of his military service have explained Joe Biden getting out of his. I mean, he didn't really exactly cover himself in glory on this point. What?

That's insane.

No, it's not. It's not insane. You're attacking Trump for getting out of military service. Joe Biden somehow got out of military. I'm just wondering how you square your support for Biden, but you attacked Trump on this point.

Yeah, okay. Good one. Good one, Scott. I mean, Donald Trump is making- You have no answer.

You have no answer.

His own personal Vietnam. No, I mean, you can sit there and giggle and laugh like a screwy guy. But like, Donald Trump said his personal Vietnam was getting STDs. It's crazy.

If you want to attack Donald- He said he had bone spurs.

It's insane.

If you want to attack Trump for getting out of military service, I think you ought to answer questions about how Joe Biden got out of it.

I agree with you. But listen, Joe Biden is not attacking JD Vance or anybody else's military service. Donald Trump and his number two are attacking Tim Walsh, who served 24 years when he didn't even bother to go to the draft.

Let Let me just ask one last question, which I think is a little bit of a one-off from whatever just happened here the last 90 seconds. None of this discussion, Scott, involved Vice President Kamala Harris. There's been a lot of energy, and I will say there's been a lot of energy and a lot of Republicans pointing fingers at Tim Walsh over the last 36 hours on this. But do you think they ought to be spending their time talking about Vice President Harris instead?

Well, this week's been about Walsh, and the campaign has touted his military service as a nexus to his agenda on gun control, and they've also touted it as a nexus to his appeal to a rural America or Heartland America. So I think it's fair game. Look, we've spent several weeks on everything JD Vance has ever said to every podcaster out there. I think spending a couple of days on walls is to be expected. And look, he deserves scrutiny. He did embellish his record, Republicans believe, and that's going to be part of the campaign. Whether it's the most important part, we'll find out.