The CES Letter argues that Joseph Smith's "modus operandi" related to polygamy was "deceptive" and "disonest."
Jeremy Runnells, CES Letter: My Search for Answers to my Mormon Doubts, self-published online, 2017, p. 57-58
The secrecy of the marriages and the private and public denials by Joseph Smith are not congruent with honest behavior. . .
What does it say about Joseph Smith and his character to include his plural wife and associates – who knew about his secret polygamy/polyandry – to lie and perjure in a sworn public affidavit that Joseph was not a polygamist?
Now, does the fact that Joseph Smith practiced polygamy and polyandry while denying and lying to Emma, the Saints, and the world over the course of 10+ years of his life prove that he was a false prophet? That the Church is false? No, it doesn’t.
What it does prove, however, is that Joseph Smith’s pattern of behavior or modus operandi for a period of at least 10 years of his adult life was to keep secrets, to be deceptive, and to be dishonest – both privately and publicly.