What Happens When You Claim an Earned PhD but Don't Have One?

The same fellow who hosted at least one U.S. Senator and two U.S. Representatives at his pastors’ briefing Monday and Tuesday has gone silent about his “earned PhD.” David Barton, viewed by many on the Christian right as a competent historian, came out on September 7 with a video scolding progressives for questioning the claim that Barton has an earned PhD. On the video, he didn’t identify the school where he received the doctor’s degree. From the video, it appears to be Life Christian University.
It seems likely that Barton did not attend the school but was given the degree by LCU for his lifetime of accomplishments. Other “big name preachers” received what was labeled “earned PhDs?” in recognition of writing a lot of books and preaching many sermons.
Curious, I looked for instances of people impersonating a PhD. It seems like fraud to me but I wanted to see what happened in the real world.
Here are some examples:
This PA administrator lost his job
Salary adjusted lower
Public school teacher resigned
Principal reassigned
College professor fired and tried for fraud
MIT Admissions Director had to resign
Christian legal group sues UCLA over academic fraud
Principal fired
Analyst fired from Institute of War
Professor fired and indicted for fraud
Army statistician fired over fraudulent graduate degrees
Here’s a book on the subject.
Barton has been quiet for a week about it but this matter won’t go away.