Former IU law professor who inflated resume resigns from West Point

Accusations that William C. Bradford fabricated parts of his resume when he worked as a law professor at Indiana University did not stop him from stepping into a new teaching job at the prestigious Military Academy at West Point last month.

Bradford left Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law in 2005 under suspicion of inflating his military record.

Now 10 years later, the law professor is the subject of media reports after he wrote a controversial paper that attacked academics who opposed the war on terror.

Bradford has resigned from West Point after he was hired there on Aug. 1 -- once again amid reports of exaggerated credentials, according to articles from The Guardian and The Atlantic.

The professor drew scrutiny after he authored a paper for the "National Security Law Journal" that accused some legal scholars of helping ISIS, The Atlantic reported.

Bradford told the Washington Post that the criticism comes from people who have not read the paper and are taking it out of context.

"I would suggest that the best approach to the problem I outline is competition in the marketplace of ideas," Bradford told the Post in an email.

Bradford also denied exaggerating his credentials.

The paper, that later elicited an apology from the journal, brought attention to Bradford's self-reported credentials.

At IU, Bradford was the subject of an Indianapolis Star column after he said professors voted against his tenure due to political differences. He claimed to have fought in Desert Storm, and be a recipient of the Silver Star award.

The Star columnist wrote that she was taken in by Bradford after a skeptical reader, a Gulf War veteran, contacted her.

Bradford's service record indicated he had not been on active duty, and did not receive any awards.

The Guardian reported that Bradford falsely identified himself as an "associate professor of law, national security and strategy, National Defense University" before he took the job at West Point.

A West Point spokesman told The Guardian Bradford resigned on Sunday.

Call Star reporter Madeline Buckley at (317) 444-6083. Follow her on Twitter:@Mabuckley88.