DALLAS – Chris Suprun, the Republican Texas elector who said he will not vote for Donald Trump at the electoral college on Monday, raised new questions about his professional history.
On Thursday, his two public relations firms, Megaphone Strategies and Fenton Communications, told WFAA that Suprun couldn't respond to our initial story because his schedule was “jammed packed.”
But 12 hours after it aired, Suprun went online to Reddit, one of the world’s largest online forums, to talk about our report that questions whether he ever responded to the Pentagon on September 11, 2001 as he has portrayed for years.
Friday on Reddit, Suprun stated that he was a volunteer firefighter in Dale City, Virginia on 9/11, a southern suburb of Washington, D.C. But records show that Dale City’s volunteer fire department wasn't one of the first responders to the terrorist attack on the Department of Defense headquarters.
Late Friday night, the Dale City Volunteer Fire Department addressed those claims in a statement posted to Facebook. The department said Suprun was indeed "a member in good standing" at the time of the 9/11 attacks, but that station records confirm there were no members on duty from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sept. 11, 2001.
"Therefore, no members of the department were involved in the initial response to the attack on the Pentagon in their capacity as a member of the Dale City Volunteer Fire Department," the statement states.
It does mention, however, that members of the department were part of the operation from 6 p.m. on Sept. 11 until being released. It also states that some Dale City firefighters were involved in the Pentagon first response "in their capacities as public safety officials with other organizations."
"However, the Dale City Volunteer Fire Department has no records upon which it may rely to confirm or deny the times of service or specific nature of the involvement of these members," the statement reads.
Suprun first claimed he was working as a Manassas Park (Virginia) firefighter on 9/11. WFAA confirmed, though, that The City of Manassas Park hired Suprun on October 10, 2001, one month after the 9/11 attacks.
That's when Suprun changed his story in the Reddit forum, saying he was working with Dale City.
What’s more unusual, Suprun has some lengthy resumes and Dale City is never mentioned. One resume, publicly available on LinkedIn.com, is nine pages long when printed out.
Another recent paper resume of Suprun’s that WFAA obtained is seven pages.
Both are comprehensive in listing all kinds of awards, articles and accolades, in addition to his professional experience.
Neither of them list Dale City, Virginia in any capacity.
Twenty-four hours after WFAA’s report, Suprun has still yet to prove he was actually a 9/11 responder.
What makes it a big deal is that Suprun points directly to that experience in establishing his credibility in a New York Times editorial this month. In the paper, Suprun explained why - as a Republican member of the Electoral College – he will not vote for Donald Trump when that body meets at state capitols across the country on Monday.
For fellow Texas electors like Alex Kim, the revelations about his past are troubling.
"Either he's a man of character or he's not," said Kim.
Both Kim and another elector, Nick Ciggelakis, say questions about Suprun's credibility coupled with the simple fact that so many electors are now in the public spotlight, may change just who exactly state parties look to in the future.
"People will have to be prepared. It will be different in four years," said Ciggelakis, who at 19 is the state's youngest ever elector.
"It's not simply, 'Hey, I'm 90 years old and have been a Republican for 50 years of my life.' I think there will be concern about who is representing," added Kim.
Suprun is a licensed certified emergency medical technician in Texas.
But during Suprun’s time on Reddit on Friday, he didn't clarify other questions about his professional history.
Suprun’s resumes show he’s currently a Flight Paramedic for Air Methods air ambulance service. But a spokeswoman for that company told WFAA that Suprun is not an employee of theirs.
His resumes also say he’s currently a Lead Paramedic for Freedom EMS in Dallas, as well. Problem is, according to a license check from the Texas Department of State Health Services, no such company exists.
In fact, federal court records show Suprun just got out of bankruptcy this month after five years while his resumes list him as having two jobs.
They are discrepancies he has yet to explain.