When a staff writer at a left-wing commentary website accused Sen. Tom Cotton of lying about his time in the armed forces, the Republican’s fellow Rangers had his back.

The effort to insinuate that the Arkansas lawmaker has been stealing valor for nearly a decade rests on the premise that, starting in 2012, during his first congressional campaign, Cotton spoke about his time as “a U.S. Army Ranger in Iraq and Afghanistan,” and highlighted his service in television ads throughout his home state.