A Jason In The House Classic…Tiffany Smiley: A Story Of Collateral Beauty 58:09

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Welcome to the Jason in the House podcast. I'm Jason Chaffetz, and I'm glad you joined us this week because we're going to have, I think, a fascinating discussion with Tiffany Smiley. She's a candidate for the United States Senate from the great state of Washington, but she's got this amazing inspirational story about the difficulties and things that happened when she sent her...

her husband off to war and he was injured and he lost his eyesight and didn't know if he was going to survive. But not only did he survive, went through an incredible road to recovery. And we're going to talk to Tiffany Smiley about what she and her husband, Scotty went through. And I just, I can't wait for this interview, but I want to talk about a few other things because we're going to talk about the news and then highlight the stupid because we can't resist. There's always somebody doing something stupid somewhere.

All right, so I want to just get in here. As we see Russia invading Ukraine, this thing is, this story is changing by the hour, but it's getting worse, not better. A very difficult situation you're having to go through. And I know that the president just gave a State of the Union speech, but as we're recording this,

I hope that Biden will not continue to do some of the major, major mistakes that he's made so far. First of all, you don't tell your enemy what you're not going to do. Why you say that you won't use the assets, the firepower, the whatever of the United States of America, don't telegraph. That's just stupid. It's just not smart. It's poor tactics. The commander-in-chief has got to be smarter than that.

We have so many assets. And to only go in and say, well, we're going to lay down sanctions. And, oh, by the way, if it's just a small incursion, the response will be small. I've never heard any successful military leader go in and say that. What you should be saying is not that there will be a proportional response, but that there will be an overwhelming response, right?

And that overwhelming will far outweigh anything that you plan to do. So why President Biden would not talk about what these so-called sanctions are going to be and that they would be so overwhelming you would never, ever want to do it. In fact, you're going to regret doing it. That makes no sense to me.

Keep in mind, this is the same Vladimir Putin, the KGB agent, who believes that in the last hundred years, the worst thing that happened to the world was the breakup of the Soviet Union. Not the Holocaust, not the World Wars. It was the breakup of the Soviet Union. That's what he believes. That's the perspective he brings. So what's his goal and destiny? What does he believe that Russia should be doing?

It should be garnering and bringing back together a stronger Russia with a broader Soviet Union. Now, what form that takes, I don't know, but he wants to control it. So go back to 2008. This is when Russia decided to move into Georgia. President Bush was in place. Yeah, we did some sanctions.

Not much happened. He took 25% of the country. The European Union said, oh, you shouldn't do that. We went to the United Nations. Russia signed a document saying, oh, we're going to withdraw. They never withdrew. I went there, was a member of Congress, went to Georgia, went with the EU, looked at what was going on there, put on the big binoculars, and watched as the Russians continued to fortify their new holdings, their new part of Russia, their occupying 25% of Georgia land.

just outside the capital city. So not many consequences to Vladimir Putin in Russia by doing that. Then fast forward to 2014, Vladimir Putin says, yeah, I want to go into Crimea, which is part of Ukraine. There's lots of reasons why we think that would be good. Blew through what was then a sovereign border. And what did Barack Obama do? Go back and watch the speech. One of the lamest speeches

least enthusiastic speeches you've ever heard from a president of the United States. Of course, Joe Biden's the vice president. What do they do? Well, today we're going to implement some sanctions against

Oh, Vladimir Putin had to be shaking in his boots saying, oh, those sanctions were so awful. I'll never do that again. No, he understood that the United States was pathetic in its response. And so now forecasting literally he wrote a manifesto in July of last year where Vladimir Putin foreshadowed that they were going to take over Ukraine.

One of his generals, and I can't remember his specific title, and I've only heard about this recently, but evidently back in like November, December, foreshadowed that what was going to happen on February 22nd of 2022, they were going to move into and take over Ukraine. Now, we have a central intelligence agency. We have a national security advisor. We have all of these assets so that they watch and listen to these key military leaders talk

But to the president, did he say, oh, you know what? We did pay attention to that. And by the way, here are the sanctions that are in place that won't go away until you move your tropes off the border. Until we are convinced that the United States that you are not going to do that.

That's using the might of the of the of the office of the presidency. Where is Joe Biden and Kamala Harris garnering and bringing up the support of the international community? You would act as if you were just surprised that all of a sudden, oh, my gosh, they went into Ukraine. They've been foreshadowing this for a long, long, long, long time.

And the president did nothing about this. So don't tell me you've got more sanctions up your sleeve if they decide to do more because sanctions aren't doing anything. That's my take on the news. All right, let's transition to something a little bit lighter, a little bit lighter, which is bringing on the stupid, because you know what? There's always somebody doing something stupid somewhere.

Almost weekly, we can talk about what's going on with the squad. The squad decided with the State of the Union that wasn't good enough for the leader of the Democratic Party, the President of the United States, based on the Constitution, give a report to Congress. Oh, no. The squad had to give its own report.

They had to have their own mini State of the Union. Not the Republican response. Not the opposition party's response. No, they had to do their own. And I got to tell you, Democrats, I don't know what in the world you're doing, but you don't act as if you've got your act together. You have this radical faction of your party that is so far left that

This socialist mentality who doesn't believe in sovereign borders. I mean, I could go down the list, but it's scary where the Democratic Party has gone. No more do you have these blue dog Democrats. No longer do you have this sort of independent minded party.

group you have turned to a radical left that they think that they should even go further left it's just absolutely disastrous and i tell you that's about the stupidest thing i ever heard for them to give their additional state of the union speech

All right, number two. This is just kind of lighthearted, but remember in the movie, for those of you who saw The Hangover, maybe you didn't see The Hangover. It's a pretty funny movie. You know, there's a few swear words in that movie, so be careful if you go watch it. But in the movie The Hangover, there's a part of the scene where the guy's

decide to get Mike Tyson, yes, boxer Mike Tyson's tiger. And not a really good idea. Well, evidently, according to the New York Post, there was a Massachusetts college student who was, quote, very interested in tigers, end quote. And this Matthew Abram

Abraham, age 24. He was spotted at the Franklin Park Zoo in a private outdoor area behind the tiger enclosure early in the morning a few Mondays ago. And so he, the allegation is Matthew climbed a few fences to get a little closer. Said he wanted to look the eye. He wanted to understand the eye of the tiger. Wanted to look the tiger in the eye.

Oh, my goodness. Probably not a good idea. That, to me, is pretty stupid. He had to pay like a $40 fine and he got caught. But you know what? Just because you're interested in tigers, probably not a good idea to be hopping fences at a zoo to go look them in the eye. That, to me, is another part of stupid. All right. Now it's time to phone a friend because I'm really excited to talk to Tiffany Smiley. I have talked to her and visited with her before.

And I just found her story inspirational. And she's one of those people that if you get a chance to meet or talk with, you just are buoyed up. The positive energy that radiates from her is just amazing. She is a candidate for the United States Senate. But I think if you listen to her story, I always learn more and more about it. And it is absolutely inspirational. So let's dial up Tiffany Smiley.

Hello?

Got a big weighty race of the, you know, control of the United States Senate is up in front of you. But I wanted to chat a little bit about you and your life, your husband, Scotty, and what you've gone through and why you're running, but also just your life story. Because as I've gotten to know you and read more about your background and heard from you personally, you just have a fascinating, fascinating background in life. And life's taken you in some directions that maybe you didn't want to go, but you've

I've gone through that with my own family and it can either make you a better, stronger, more loving person or it can do some real negative, destructive things. And your story to me is very inspirational. So I'm looking forward to chatting with you.

Thank you, Jason. I appreciate it. And you know, it's funny because I often tell folks, you know, traveling around Washington state, if you would have told me 20 years ago that my life would lead into politics, I would have laughed and said, you're absolutely crazy. You know, there's, there's no way I will get into, into politics. Um, I was born and raised in Washington state. So I absolutely love this state. Um, you know, grew up on a small farm and, uh,

You know, I did not grow up with much, but what I had was the freedom of space and animals and working hard for every dollar. You know, my parents made us work really hard raising beef and hogs. I was a part of 4-H and saved money to pay for college and buy my first car and also sold cherries on the side of the road.

So although we didn't have much, I think those experiences are the American experience. The opportunity that I had was to, you know, I always joke that my mom really made me an entrepreneur. You know, she would, after we'd pick cherries, she would say, okay, you're going to roll these cherries on the grass. My father grew Rainier cherries, those big yellow juicy cherries with a little bit of red on them. They're the best cherries you can get anywhere. Uh,

And we grow them right here in Washington State. And she would say, you have to gently roll these cherries on the grass and you can't bruise them because if you bruise them, they're not sellable. So we gently roll them. And she would say, there's going to be other cherry stands at the market. So you need to stand out. Someone needs to be able to walk by your bin and sample a cherry right out of your bin. And, you know, we'd get there extra early. And then my mom taught me, if someone buys a five pound bag, you make sure that they see you put an extra handful on top.

because they'll come back to your cherry stand again. So I learned that, you know, very young age. And I didn't know how valuable that would be until much later in my life. But I was the first in my family to graduate with a bachelor's in science degree. I always wanted to be a nurse. So there was no question what I would do, you know, post-college. I grew up playing sports, had athletic scholarships in college that helped fund some of that.

and graduated cum laude with my bachelor's in science degree and married Scotty Smiley, who was a newly commissioned officer from the United States Military Academy. I often joke, you know, he was a military officer. I was a nurse. My new last name was Smiley. It does not get very much more American dreamish than that. And to some degree, I thought I had achieved it. I thought that this is it. You know, we've done it. There's nothing that can stand in our way.

You know, hard work, go the extra mile and live, you know, live the American dream. Where exactly did you meet him? Where'd you go on your first date? Yes. So I met Scotty Smiley in junior high.

I grew up, you know, way out on this farm. So I went to a small farm elementary school and for junior high, they bused us in. So it was about a 45, 50 minute bus ride into town. We called it. And I met, I met him in sixth grade. And the funny thing is, you know, I was just this awkward, skinny, funny looking sixth grader. And,

and, you know, was teased and made fun of. But there was one boy who was really, really nice. And I drew a heart around his picture in sixth grade and I wrote future plans. And that was Scotty Smiley. Wow. You know what you want. You really get after it. Sixth grade. I guess you weren't really going on to your first official date other than maybe the homeroom or something like that, I guess. Yeah.

He was the nicest boy in junior high. So things kindled up at some point because you ended up getting married, right? Did you get married during school, after college? When was that?

Yes, we actually started dating our senior year of high school. So he's my high school sweetheart. And he left to the military academy. I went on to pursue my athletics and nursing degree. And we made it through. We're actually in the 1% club from West Point. So only 1% of those that go into the academy, my boyfriend, girlfriend, actually leave with the same one. So we survived the academy. We dated through college and then got married once we graduated.

from college. And he went into the army, correct? Correct. Yep. So we got married. He joined then the military as an infantry officer. And our first duty station was right here in Washington State at Fort Lewis, Washington with the beautiful Mount Rainier that has the backdrop. But then he deployed. Tell us, I mean, that's hard. There are millions of people who've gone through this

But it's so hard to have, you know, a spouse, a loved one, brother, sister, whatever it might be, uncle, father, whatever, deployed. Did you have kids at that point? We did not have kids. We had a grand plan of working and paying off our debt and, you know, potentially for me going back to school and continuing in the military. That was our plan. And then waiting for him to

To, you know, get back and the deployments to settle to start our family. So, you know, very shortly after we were married, Scotty did receive orders to deploy to Mosul, Iraq. And at that time, you know, these were like, you know, year long 18. We were prepared for 18 month deployment.

And there's, you know, nothing really prepares you for that. I didn't grow up in a military family. I mean, I'm just a farm girl. I didn't have any military experience. And in some ways I felt a little, you know, like, wait a minute, we just got married. This is supposed to be, you know, the honeymoon, the first year of bliss. And we found ourselves in front of a lawyer, you know, executing our wills, which was really strange as a, you know, 22 year old newlywed.

I was, you know, getting power of attorney in case something happened to Scotty or in case he was killed. So it's a rude awakening in the military. I mean, you don't it kind of confronts you right in the face. And and I'll never forget the day that he left. You know, they load him up on white buses. It was a beautiful Pacific Northwest day. Mount Rainier was beautiful.

You know, the backdrop, huge mountain in the background. And I looked into his blue eyes and with tears in both of our eyes, you say goodbye and you don't know. You really don't.

Of course, you know, you pray and you trust that God has, you know, your loved ones in safety and will take care of them. And that was our prayer every single day. But you know that there is a lot of unknown. And so he loaded the bus that October day and headed out to an almost 18 month deployment. Well, then tell us what happened.

You know, what's happened to you and it's happened to lots of others, unfortunately. And, but it also can be inspirational, but tell us, tell us what happened. Yes. So, you know, that was 2004, 2005 was some of the heaviest fighting our nation faced. And,

You know, I'll never forget coming home from a nursing shift. So I just went to work helping my neighbors and taking on as many nursing shifts as I as I could, working as much as I could. And I'll never forget coming home and turning on the news, turning on Fox News, actually. And right in front of me was Scotty Geraldo. Rivera was embedded with his platoon during the first Iraqi elections.

And it was surreal to come home and see your husband on television fighting a war a million miles away. Bombs were going off. Scotty was yelling at his men. I hadn't talked to him in weeks. It just it made it really real.

And not only that, they experienced, you know, we Scotty lost his company commander. My dear friend lost her husband, Captain Bill Jacobson, Jr. And the Mosul mess hall bombing, along with thousands of other or hundreds of others. So it was a it was a hard deployment, very difficult. And we were just praying and wanting Scotty to get back and get back safely. And on April 6th of 2005,

all of that changed. I was awoken out of bed by a phone call. Um, and I was, you know, excited because Scotty would call it all different hours, all different times. You just never knew when, you know, when they would call, I always, my phone and my scrub pocket. And when,

go in the mechanical room or the supply room and answer his phone call. It's any opportunity I had. And so I excitedly answered the phone, but instead it was someone else's voice on the other end of the line and delivered, you know, the heartbreaking news really delivered the news that forever changed our lives and changed the trajectory of our future. Scotty's commanding general or commanding officer said, Tiffany, I'm so sorry. I'm

Scotty has come face to face with a suicide car bomb. One thing we are certain of is that he will never see again. The shrapnel ripped through both of his eyes, completely blinding him, obliterating both of his eyes.

He said the second thing we're not sure of is if he will survive. He's lost a lot of blood. He's flatlined several times. We just loaded him on a Black Hawk helicopter. He's on his way to Balad, Iraq, to the Support Combat Support Hospital. And hopefully someone calls you from there. That that was a day our American dream blew up into a million pieces.

That was the day that changed everything for Scotty, for me, for our family. But, you know, like you mentioned, Jason, it was also the opportunity to make a choice.

What were we going to do with this and how would we handle it? I made two decisions that day. I resigned from my nursing job and I bought a one way ticket out to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. I was going to be there when Scotty arrived at Andrews Air Force Base. I didn't know if I would greet him dead or alive, but I was going to be there.

So at 23 years old, I walked into Scotty's trauma care unit where he had tubes coming out of every orifice of his body. He had bandages all over his head and eyes. Nurses and doctors were frantically running around. He was in a coma. He was hardly recognizable. He was all puffed up from the fluid and all the medication they were pumping into him.

And I walked in with student loan debt, car payment, and I just quit my job. And my husband was completely blind, paralyzed on the right side of his body and in a coma. That was the hardest day of my life.

There was, you know, no one standing outside our door saying, here's the path or here's a check or you're going to be OK. You know, Scotty's, you know, going to be able to live a free, full life. It was it was scary. And I wondered, you know, is that American? Is the American dream real? And is it real for two broken, you know, 24 and 23 year olds who just thought they were getting their their feet under them?

Is this country, you know, everything you learn about, everything I learned growing up and read, is this, it's sort of where the rubber meets the road. Is this real? And that's the challenge that was ahead of us. You're listening to Jason in the House. We'll be back with more right after this.

Listen to the all-new Brett Baer podcast featuring Common Ground. In-depth talks with lawmakers from opposite sides of the aisle, along with all your Brett Baer favorites like his all-star panel and much more. Available now at foxnewspodcasts.com or wherever you get your podcasts.

Now, you've told this story, I don't know how many times, but and I've heard it a couple of times and it just puts tears in your eyes. But it also becomes, I think it transitions into inspirational because that's about as hard as it gets. And yet this guy, Scotty, the guy who, you know, was.

given you googly eyes in sixth grade, had lost his eyes and his eyesight and his ability. But how long was it until he could actually regain consciousness and

be able to speak and then, you know, know that you were there. I mean, I do believe even though people are unconscious and whatnot, it's just me personally. I think they can sense a presence of, you know, a loved one or somebody like that. But tell us about how long that went on and what happened there.

Yes. You know, it's people, you know, often say, wow, Tim, you're jumping into politics, you're running for Senate and you're taking on, you know, Patty Murray. And I share that story of 23 years old walking into that hospital room. I mean, I say bring it on, you know, bring it on.

Scotty was he was in a coma for about two weeks before he was able to process what had happened and what was going on. And within that two weeks, I was brought into a room with VA official, army officials, doctors, nurses, social workers. And like I mentioned at the beginning of our chat, I had power of attorney. And so they brought me in and they said, Mrs. Smiley, we need to begin processing.

you know, first lieutenants, Scotty Smiley's retirement from the military sign right here on the dotted line. And we'll begin that process.

And, you know, being a nurse, you have a holistic perspective. You see, you know, the patient. I went from serving a lot of patients to Scotty, but I knew this was going to take more than just getting him back on his feet, that he needed he was going to need purpose and opportunity and to know that he had a fighting chance in the free market despite his injuries. And so I had a lot of questions for them. I didn't particularly like my answers back. And so I said, no, I'm not signing it.

I just walked in and told my husband he would never see again. I was not going to walk in and say, I just signed the paperwork to retire you from the very thing that you loved doing, serving your country and purpose for your life.

And so I said, no, I'm not signing it. The doctor pushed it in front of me a little bit further. And he said, Miss Smiley, I don't think you understand. There has never been someone to continue on active duty blind, you know, let alone he's paralyzed on the right side of his body, like signed the paperwork. And a second time I said, no, I'm not signing it. I truly believe that Scotty should have every opportunity to fully recover and

to have access to resources, training, whatever he would need to adapt to the blindness. And if he still wanted to serve, that he could still serve our great country and be an asset. And so I built a coalition who believed in that vision as well. And it gave Scotty motivation to get better. It gave him purpose. It gave him, you know, he had a fire in him as well once he started

you know, moving his right arm and moving his leg and realizing, no, I have something to still fight for. I have a wife who's still here, who still cares for me. And Scotty went on and became, you know, long story short, he went on and became the first blind active duty officer to continue service to our country. So we went on and served for a whole nother decade with him completely blind.

Moved eight times in 10 years. And all three of our beautiful sons are born in different cities all across the United States of America. You know, you got a nursing degree. You learn things on the farm, which is probably better than a lot of degrees. Yes.

You didn't get a law degree, but good for you for having the presence of mind to not just sign what the military was thrusting in front of you because the trajectory and the expense, quite frankly, of what you would have gone through without that. And you're right to have somebody who's serving overseas or a country serving

to take away the ability to continue to serve their nation. I mean, how cruel is that? I'm just proud of you for doing that. If nothing else, I just want to say I'm just proud that some young 20-year-old, you know, newly married girl would say, sorry, I'm not signing that. So good for you.

In some ways, I think, you know, I'm being a farm girl and I wasn't exposed to the military, so I wasn't afraid of the army. You know, I didn't. Maybe that was a good thing, you know, because I wasn't afraid to take them on. I really wasn't. I wasn't afraid to ask for a better way. And and what a great country that we live in, that we can do that. Right.

Yeah, that we can raise our voices and ask for a better way. We can work together and then see those results come to fruition. I don't know any other country that you can do that in. No, that's true. I found myself at one point going face to face with the chairman of the Joint Chiefs and and really kind of yelling at him. I was talking to him about Benghazi and I had been this member of Congress that had gone there and seen, you know, in Tripoli, had gone and seen it and talked to the people and

And he and I, in a closed-door setting, really went at it. And afterwards, I was like, wow, I was a little bold there. But then I thought, what a great country where a representative, a guy who is, you know, just can be there and really lay into the chairman of the Joint Chiefs. Because you do that in a lot of other countries. That's a one-way ticket to, you know, Siberia or something. Exactly. Yeah.

But good for you for doing that. So he starts to regain consciousness. He starts to comprehend what he's gone through. And I'm sure there were dark, dark days trying to comprehend how his life and your life together had changed. And I'm just glad you were there to be the inspiration on that road to recovery. How long was he in the hospital before he could actually get up, move, be self-sufficient and get onto that next stage? How long did that last?

Yes, we were at Walter Reed for over two months, a little over two months. And then we were transported out to California for blind rehabilitation, where he continued to stay inpatient. He still needed a couple more surgeries there.

So again, there, you know, we arrived at the VA facility and they sort of were like, Mrs. Smiley, what are your plans? And I said, well, I'm staying here. Well, usually the spouses don't stay. And I said, OK, well, I'm staying. So they found they actually found me this dilapidated corner of the hospital where I stayed there.

Where I stayed the night and I was there with Scotty every single day, every single day. I lived off of granola bars and power bars that people would send me. And I just knew, you know, at a time, such a fragile time for Scotty that I could not leave. I would not leave.

And so we were there for about five months, five or six months at the rehabilitation center and then came back to Fort Lewis. And Scotty had a couple more surgeries and then regained his strength and.

took on his first job as the first blind active duty officer at Fort Monroe, Virginia. So we loaded up our Tahoe and trekked across the country. Of course, now I was the sole driver. I didn't have any backup driver. Right, right. But let's go back here. Hold on. Let's go. Before we go to the next fort, let's talk about this for a second because this

It is a little personal to me too. Some of the people who listen to this podcast may know that our son-in-law had a spinal cord injury. He's 29 years old and jumps in the pool, hits his head, and has a spinal cord injury. And wondering how bad this paralysis is going to be. Is it going to be a quadriplegic? Is he going to recover? Is he going to be not knowing?

And our daughter who was pregnant at the time and already had two children, our two grandkids, I can't believe I'm a grandpa, but you know, this is a part, this is a part of medicine and recovery that I still think our country needs to think through because Ellis was much like you, our daughter, she, she was insistent. She's like, no, I'm not going home. I know visiting hours are over, but I'm not over being her, you know, his wife. And so,

I'm not leaving him by himself. And so for three months, she spent the night on the couch next to him while he was going through this. The first night she came home for a few hours and then he woke up and she wasn't there. And good for you for staying with your, your husband. It's kind of what our daughter Ellis did. Now, fortunately she had the support where Julie, my wife and I could take care of the two grandkids and, and watch them, you know, 24 seven and,

But for those that are unfortunately going to go through this in the future, or maybe have gone through in the past, they probably weren't even afforded an opportunity to do that. And I don't know, it's just my soapbox of saying, I think America needs to think through those that are going through really tough, debilitating, whether it's a disease or an injury or something that having that loved one right there at their side is just a huge part of that recovery.

Absolutely. I am with you all the way. It's the holistic perspective to healing versus just a medical. And while, yes, you need the medical treatment there, you know, the power of love and the power of connection at the end of the day, we're still human beings. And

And we need each other. And Scotty, if you were interviewing Scotty, he would tell you the same is, is the only way I got better is because Tiffany never left me. Like it gave me, it gave him motivation, give him purpose. It gave him the ability to know, you know, I'm not alone in this.

Which an injury, you know, like your son-in-law or Scotty, you know, completely losing his eyesight could very easily go down that line. And then it is hard to come back from. It is dark. It is scary. But to know that we have each other makes all the difference in recovery. Yeah. And, you know, future success. Knowing what you can achieve. Yeah.

Yeah. So like I interviewed for one of the podcasts, if you haven't had a chance to listen to it, I encourage people listen to it. It's Congressman Brian Mast, the congressman from Florida who had his legs blown off serving in Afghanistan. But I was talking to him doing this interview and you can, as you go back and you listen to the interview, it's

When I ask him about what his wife did for him and the inspiration that she was, you just get tears in your eyes because you just realize this was the angel in his life that helped him get back to the full-throttled spirit that Brian Mast had. And I see the same in you and Scotty and the journey that you've taken. You're listening to Jason in the House. We'll be back with more of my conversation with Tiffany Smiley right after this.

Next thing you know, you're packing up the car. You're driving because we don't want Scotty driving. No, we don't want Scotty driving. So he can talk all he wants, but we don't want him driving. That's right. So you're headed out east. But then tell us about that. And then he went on to get his MBA and his master's in business administration from Duke University.

Kind of walk us through that and what that whole experience was like. Absolutely. And this will be my plug for military spouses because I truly believe in our country. Military spouses do not get enough credit for careers that they give up, for opportunities that they give up in service to our country. You know, as a nurse, I did give up my career, but my license was in Washington State. So I would have to retake my license in every single state that we moved to. We moved eight times in 10 years.

So it's a team effort. I love how you talk about, you know, Congressman Mass story because it is a team effort. No one serves this country alone. And so giving up my career, I was fully committed, you know, very measured approach to what Scotty and I could achieve.

and what we could do together. And so he got his first job at Fort Monroe, which was awesome. We were thrilled. We were excited. But at the same time, you know, it's territory that had never been broken into before. So it's not always, you know, we often joke is like, well, don't really want to be known for as the first blind activity officer. Well, he is. So, yeah.

Yeah, but we did it. And so from Fort Monroe, we had to really, you know, they didn't give Scotty a weapon back, which you understand why. So you couldn't go back. I understand that. Yeah. There's going to be some things you can't do. Yeah, I get that.

Yes, yes. But there was other places that he could be helpful. And one of the areas that the Army saw that he could give back was teaching and going back to West Point, going back to his alma mater and teaching, you know, the future leaders and officers of our country. And so they said, Scotty, that would be a great position for you. You just need to go get a master's. You need to get an MBA. So by this point,

Let's see, 2007. So Scotty was blind in 2005. In 2007, our first son, Grady, was born. And what a blessing. It was the first time that Scotty and I really felt like goodness could happen to us. It was a beautiful blessing. And, you know, Scotty's never seen our children. So they were all born after. And here, Scotty and I are in Virginia.

And, you know, all of our family lives in Washington state and I go into labor. I'm like, Scotty, what are we doing? Are we calling a cab? I can't drive. All of a sudden I can't drive. Luckily a wonderful neighbor. We got ahold of her and she, she got us to the hospital and had Grady. And it was shortly after we had Grady, we moved to Durham, North Carolina. Scotty was accepted to Duke to get his MBA and,

And every day, you know, I would walk, we would walk in with Grady in his little front pack. I would sit in his classes until he, until we, you know, secured a tutor to help him take notes. I remember drawing graphs and maps on his back so he would understand them. But, you know, we were committed to doing whatever it took. Wait a sec, wait a sec. All right, I got to comprehend that. That's interesting. So you drew the graph so he could feel

That makes sense. I would have never thought of that. I don't know why you came up with that, but that's a pretty good solution. Desperate times, Jason called. Wow. Okay. Sorry. I didn't know that was coming. Yeah. All right. Yeah. I mean, it was, you know, unconventional pathways of, you know, we really had to learn how to over deliver and overachieve and really just meant putting in more time than anyone else.

And what was awesome was just to see Scotty's success there. And it was such an awesome moment when he graduated. It just, Grady was two and then I was pregnant with our second. So it was just an awesome moment. Scotty was unanimously chosen to be the class speaker and just such a powerful message of what we can achieve

You know, when we work together, but I honestly, I remember picking him up. We would study so hard into the night for tests. You know, we'd be getting up with our little baby and then rushing. I would drive him back and forth to school every single day. And he had this one hard test this one particular day. We'd been studying hard. I dropped him off and I'll never forget coming to pick him up.

getting Grady out of the car, walking up the steps. And I remember opening the door and seeing Scotty. I remember what he's wearing. It was like a peach polo, like a J crew polo and khaki pants. And I opened the door and,

Went to his desk and I said, how did you do? And he just looked at me and he said, I beat the mean. And my teacher doesn't know how I did it. Okay. We can do this. You know, we can do this. So that was an incredible experience. And I do have to say, you know, the Duke games were extra fun. So, so Duke basketball was definitely a treat for us while we were there. And then, you know, moved to West Point in, uh,

the United States military Academy, West Point, New York. Wait, hold on. Hold on. Second son.

Let's go back here because for those of us that are basketball fans, Coach K there at Duke, I mean, he said some really nice things about Scotty, calling him an American hero. And I don't know if he had a chance to personally interact with him or if he just heard and saw Scotty's experience. But Coach K doesn't give out compliments like that very easily.

No, you know, Coach K has been a wonderful, amazing friend and mentor to both Scotty and I. And we have had the distinct honor to sit in front of him on multiple occasions, just us, and learn from him. And, you know, an incredible, incredible friend and mentor. We feel blessed to have him in our lives. And it's funny because when we'd go to the games, we would sit right behind him.

And this one game, it was getting heated and he took his jacket off and threw it and it landed in Scotty's lap. Scotty looks at me and goes, what? What just happened? I said, it's Coach K's blazer. That's funny. OK, OK. So, yes, incredible leader that we are fortunate, fortunate to have him in our lives.

So let's go forward a little bit. You go to West Point, but then when did you come back to Washington? Yes. So we moved to the state of Washington, by the way. Yes. Washington State. Yes. We moved back to Washington State in 2011, where Scotty came back for military service to teach at Gonzaga University in their ROTC department.

So it was great to, you know, we were still serving and back in our home state and it felt wonderful. Our third son, Baylor, was born in Spokane, Washington. So sort of our little exclamation point when we came back to Washington State. Yeah. So now what?

Tell us about why in the world you woke up one day and you said, you know, Scotty, I've been thinking, and I think I should run for the United States Senate. Like, what? Explain that to me, because, you know, there's a saying in Congress, and you know I've served and we've talked about this, but, you know, friends don't let friends run for Congress. So there's...

there's the need to have really good quality people like yourself and somebody who's had real life experiences that can bring a perspective that can change the trajectory of our nation in the right way. But there's also a huge massive sacrifice in doing that. And look, you've sacrificed to help you and your family and Scotty from a very young age. And you've been going up against the military brass and all that. I have no doubt about your ability and your tenacity to

To get after and get something done and stand tall up against adversity or somebody who's telling you to do something but you know isn't really right. Like, I totally get all that. But when did you sit down and say, Scotty, this is really a good idea? Like, what happened where you said, this is what I want to do and this is why I want to do it?

Yes. Well, it's interesting, Jason. I think, you know, whether it's Scotty or me, we're forever committed to doing what's right for our country. And really it was in, you know, our fight for VA reform and moving the needle for Veterans Affairs and that in that fight,

I realize that there is so much more to be fighting for. You know, being a mom of three young boys, I am deeply worried about their future. And something that Scottie and I have always taught our boys is no matter what, when the opportunity is in front of you to do what's right, you always do what's right. You know, take the sacrifice, do what's right.

And I truly believe we're facing a time in our country, in our state here in Washington, where that opportunity was in front of me. You know, you can you could stand up and do what's right, Tiffany, or you could, you know, just do.

Call it good. Say I've served enough and move on. But really, it was a moment for me where I looked at my boys and it was like, Tiffany, do you want your comfort here or do you want their future? Do you want what's best for your children?

And we will never stop serving our country. You know, Scotty and I are Scotty was the one kicking me out the door saying, Tiffany, you're the fighter. You have to go do this. You can win. I have no doubt. And so for us, it's about fighting for our children, their future. And, you know, Scotty lost his eyesight serving this country. And and I wonder what our country will look like in 10, 20 years. You know, what if my boys want to serve? Will we still have a country worth losing your eyesight for?

Our family will not sit on the sidelines and watch, you know, career politician Patty Murray phone it in for another six years. I mean, she's been there for almost 30 years. I remind people as well that I was 11 years old here in Washington state when she was first elected.

and ran as the mom in tennis shoes for education. And when I've looked, all three of my kids are in public school. When I look at our education, just a few years ago, before the pandemic, we were rated about 44% of D average in Washington state.

those numbers have considerably gone down since the pandemic. So, I mean, I'm worried about education, inflation, crime and safety. We have a homeless crisis here. And I know that team Smiley, the Smiley family can, can tackle these issues and find solutions and fight, fight for our children in their future. And that's why I'm doing this. Well, you have an amazing opportunity because not only I think is the atmosphere, right, but the message is right. And, and,

And what's interesting to me is you've raised millions of dollars in, in what is going to be an expensive fight, but you know, Washington state has the opportunity to really change the makeup of the United States Senate. So this is going to be a fascinating race and, and it'll be, it's just fascinating to see how you take on this, this challenge and the opportunities. I just, I,

I hope the people of Washington State understand how your presence would give them just an overwhelming advantage because your voice in D.C. is going to be a powerful one. And you've already shown that you can do that at every level. But given your story and tenacity and smarts and keeping your head screwed on straight the way you have with the experience that you've gone through, been thrust upon you,

I just think you're poised to do a lot of good, and you already have. I know you've written a book, right? You and your husband wrote a book? Yes. Yes. Hope Unseen. And we started a business, Hope Unseen. So that's why I joke about my mom making me an entrepreneur. The American dream and the free market saved Scotty and I. The government did not. Right.

And that's what we truly have to fight for. So yes, Hope Unseen is an incredible, it's more of a love story than a war story. It shares about Scotty and I's, you know, commitment and love for each other and how that, you know, we've fought for each other. Scotty's fought for me too. And it's a team effort. And Hope Unseen is where we travel all over the country and share our story to various audiences from the government to nonprofits, to

businesses, about just teamwork and overcoming and how to accomplish goals that sometimes seem impossible. So Scotty and I are no strangers to that. And, you know, in addition, Scotty is also an Ironman and

became an Ironman in Coeur d'Alene, which was an incredible feat, a team effort again on all fronts. But our story, we truly speak to the power of what you can accomplish when you work together. Nothing is impossible. Wow. Wow. I know you've talked to, I don't know how many thousands of people across the country to give them that hope and inspiration, but you've been through a lot. But Tiffany Smiley, you have not been through the rapid questions that I'm about to ask you. So I hope you're

I hope you, having survived all that you have, I hope you can survive these questions. Are you ready? I'm ready. I'm getting nervous. That's good. I don't mind you getting nervous. You'll be fine. You've done a lot more difficult things. Okay, are you ready? Ready. What was the first concert you attended? Oh, Vince Gill for my birthday. Country artist. Yeah, I know Vince Gill. I'm old enough to remember Vince Gill. It's so embarrassing. I know.

What's who was your first celebrity crush? Oh, you know, that time when you're a young teenager and you said, oh, my goodness, I can't wait because I'm going to see. Well, I was so in love with Scotty Smiley. I wasn't looking around. You know, I'm going to have to say Tom Cruise because I loved Top Gun.

Yeah. Top Gun was a good movie and I cannot wait for this next version of this movie to come out, but I'm waiting. He's had an amazing career and I don't care about his personal life at all. I just think the guy is an incredible actor and, and a lot of mission impossible. I mean, I go out of my way to watch Tom Cruise movies. So I, I, that's a good answer. Um,

Did you have a pet growing up? Well, you grew up on a farm. So what kind of farm animals? I had lots of pets. I had White Sox, my cat. I had Caesar, my dog. I had Hawks. He was my dog. I had Boz as a dog.

I had Murdoch was my, my beloved steer that we had to butcher. He was so sweet. But yes, I grew up with a lot of pets and currently the Smiley family has Georgia Smiley, the most happy, adorable mini golden doodle. So we love that. That's a, that's a great one. That is a great one. All right. So if you could meet one person dead or alive, it can be anybody in history.

And you say, Scotty, you know what? Guess what? I got a special guest coming over to have dinner with us tonight. Who would you want that to be? I would have to say Mother Teresa. And I say that because she knew her purpose on this earth. She knew exactly why she was here and she did it with great love.

She had a love and a compassion in the toughest of circumstances that was unending and inspirational. I'm glad America, not just America, but I'm glad the world kind of got to know her and her story and see what she did in very difficult circumstances that never went away. So unique talent that nobody knows about. Ooh. Like, what can you do that? Like, nobody knows I can do that, but I'm pretty good at it. Yeah.

I'm left-handed, but I shoot the basketball right-handed really well. Oh, all right. Okay, that's good. Yeah, I won't make... I can raise hogs.

Well, that's true. I think if somebody met you on the street and, you know, they were in an airport or whatever and said, oh, hey, who are you? And you're Tiffany. They probably wouldn't know that you understand hogs and farm animals as well as you do. That's a good. All right. Best advice you ever got. Oh, I.

You know, I would say I've received, I've been lucky to receive a lot of good advice, but best advice I believe is probably my mother. And it's, it's taking one day at a time, you know, God only gives us what we have right now and using it to your fullest ability. Yeah, I think that's true. And I, you know, I hear your story and I just, I wonder, I just think, yeah, is it just a coincidence that,

you decided to pursue nursing and then all of a sudden you're placed in a position where you had to learn on those, lean on those skills and those experiences to help your own family, your husband. Um, sometimes I don't know, maybe it's just me. I just don't think all those things are necessarily a hundred percent a coincidence. So, but that's just me. I agree. Well, listen, Tiffany Smiley, um,

is running for the United States Senate in the state of Washington. It's Smiley, which is spelled L-E-Y, by the way, Smiley4Washington.com. And the book, again, is called Hope Unseen. Hope Unseen. And listen, thank you so much for joining us on the Jason in the House podcast. Whatever the world, wherever the world takes you, I wish you, your husband, those three boys, nothing but the best. And I cannot thank...

not only your husband, but you as a family for your service to this country, because there are lots of people just like you who maybe don't get to tell their story as broadly as you get to, but go through very difficult times. And some are injured, some are not, some are dealing with mental issues and, and, you know, and psychological issues, financial issues, drug addiction issues. I mean, they can be the whole gambit. I think, um,

I think each of us has to deal with their own set of problems and challenges and

you know, sometimes we see that there's my, in my soapbox a little bit, you see people in traffic, you see them at the convenience store and you think, Oh, you know, they're, why are they looking at me like that? You have no idea what they're going through. And oftentimes it's not about you. It's about what they're going through. And I hope you continue to, to be that inspiration because you've been there and done that. And you, you will continue to help an untold number of people, uh, your whole family. And for that, I just cannot thank you enough for just

just being great Americans and willing to toss your hat in the ring. And let's see what the good people of Washington decide, but we need good people running. And, and I'm glad you're willing to step up and do that. So Tiffany Smiley, thanks for having us, having you spent the time here on the Jason and the house podcast. Thank you, Jason. That was fun. I really appreciate it. And you know, to everyone in Washington, there is a new mom in town.

Again, that was Tiffany Smiley, S-M-I-L-E-Y. L-E-Y is how you spell Smiley. The story of her and Scottie Smiley, really, I hope you learn more about it, get to know her better.

fascinating, inspirational, all-American couple there that makes us all proud. So thanks for listening to the Jason in the House podcast. I hope you rate it. We need some stars up there. That would be helpful. Always helpful to the podcast. And go check out the Fox News Podcast Network at foxnewspodcast.com. There's a lot of good talent there at Fox. You've got podcasts that I think you'll enjoy.

But rate and review this podcast. We'll be back with more next week. I'm Jason Chaffetz, and this has been Jason in the House. The Fox True Crime Podcast presents Crimes on Campus. Sharing chilling stories of scandal, corruption, and murder. New episodes available every Tuesday this month. Listen and follow at foxtruecrime.com.