Is that consistent with the evidence?
In the Spring of 1844, William Law and other highly respected insiders were blowing the whistle on Joseph Smith with regards to the doctrine and practice polygamy. At the time, Joseph Smith and those faithful to him vehemently denied these accusations. Law et. al. described an alleged secret revelation in detail. Their description matched the revelation that was first publicly read in 1852 and is now known as Section 132. Law et. al. described a pattern of Joseph Smith and other top leaders entering into secret marriages. While we don’t know the specifics of all of Joseph’s marriages, we now know that he did enter into a few dozen secret polygamous relationships, just as Law described.
On Sunday, May 26, 1844, Joseph Smith responded to these accusations in a sermon which is now published in History of the Church Vol. 6, p. 408-412.
In this speech, he made explicit and implicit denials of polygamy.
I had not been married scarcely five minutes, and made one proclamation of the Gospel, before it was reported that I had seven wives. I mean to live and proclaim the truth as long as I can.
This new holy prophet [William Law] has gone to Carthage and swore that I had told him that I was guilty of adultery. This spiritual wifeism! Why, a man dares not speak or wink, for fear of being accused of this….
What a thing it is for a man to be accused of committing adultery, and having seven wives, when I can only find one.
Now, one could argue that these weren't really lies. Perhaps Joseph Smith meant that he didn't have seven wives, he really had 39, only one of which he could find in the audience at that moment.
The most interesting thing about this sermon is that Joseph Smith claimed that he could literally prove that he wasn’t involved in polygamy. It’s difficult to prove a negative, but Joseph was prepared to do it. He said,
For the last three years I have a record of all my acts and proceedings, for I have kept several good, faithful, and efficient clerks in constant employ: they have accompanied me everywhere, and carefully kept my history, and they have written down what I have done, where I have been, and what I have said; therefore my enemies cannot charge me with any day, time, or place, but what I have written testimony to prove my actions; and my enemies cannot prove anything against me.
What are the possibilities here? I can think of the following.
1- Joseph Smith was being honest, the record is accurate and comprehensive, and thus proves that Joseph Smith never taught nor practiced polygamy.
2- The record is in fact accurate and comprehensive, and gives a detailed account of everything he did and said, including all of his marriages, all of his private teachings, and all of his rendezvous.
3- Joseph Smith was lying in this sermon and there really wasn’t a comprehensive record of his dealings for these three years.
4- Joseph Smith and his scribes engaged in an elaborate conspiracy so that he could teach and practice polygamy and simultaneously “prove” that he did no such thing.
This thread is open to the question about whether or not Joseph was engaged in a conspiracy to mislead potential converts, mainstream church members, and the world at large about his secret relationships with members of the opposite sex, whether he ever intended for the church to be honest about polygamy, whether there were ever any church records, marriage certificates, or contemporanous accounts by his scribes for any of his polygamous "marriages", and whether or not the people who were faithful insiders have any credibility when they denied polygamy, either in general or in any specific case (such as with Martha Brotherton).
It is beyond the scope of the thread to rationalize or justify Smith's alleged dishonesty.