He wears a cowboy hat and takes no guff from the Black Lives Matter crowd. His approach is stern and no-nonsense. The colorful lawman makes for good TV ratings, and conservatives have cheered Milwaukee Sheriff David Clarke when he appears on the Fox News Channel.

Then, earlier this week, Sheriff Clarke announced that he was leaving Milwaukee for the Beltway. He told a talk show host he was taking a post with the Department of Homeland Security. What’s curious, however, is that the DHS hasn’t confirmed this.

Now Clarke’s story gets curiouser and curiouser. It appears that he may have plagiarized parts of his 2013 master’s thesis. In fact, he may have incorrectly lifted language from other sources 47 times.

Clarke completed his master’s degree in security studies through the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. His thesis, “Making U.S. Security and Privacy Rights Compatible,” used quotes from sources like the 9/11 Commission Report, Pew Research, and even the ACLU. To be sure, Clarke did credit his sources with footnotes, but he did not use quotation marks for direct quotes. The NPS requires that “If a passage is quoted verbatim, it must be set off with quotation marks,” along with footnotes.

CNN, of course, was all over the story Saturday night.

Now the NPS has removed Sheriff Clarke’s thesis from its library website. It is also conducting an investigation.

Clarke blasted the CNN reporter who broke the story, Andrew Kaczynski, calling him a “CNN hack.”

This @CNN hack @KFILE oppo research MO is to accuse plagiarism. I'm next. Did it to Rand Paul, Monica Crowley et al. https://t.co/KgoHKermpe

— David A. Clarke, Jr. (@SheriffClarke) May 20, 2017

To be sure, Kaczynski’s timing is interesting. Clarke announced that he was going to DHS, and then Kaczynski and crew dug into Clarke’s obscure thesis in order to find dirt. He brought down Monica Crowley, whom Trump had tapped for a national security role, in the same manner. Furthermore, Kaczynski works for CNN, the network that Harvard research found took the most negative tone towards the Trump administration. Yes, liberal Harvard. So, are we surprised?

But let’s look at Sheriff Clarke, too. He wrote a scholarly research paper without properly attributing his sources. Yes, he used footnotes, but failed to use quotation marks, even when the school clearly outlined their requirements. Was Clarke plagiarizing, or was he merely sloppy? Furthermore, why did he announce that he was taking a prominent position with the DHS, while that agency still has not confirmed it?

Curiouser, and curiouser, isn’t it? I constantly scratch my head and wonder whom to believe anymore.