The Donald Trump transition team is standing by conservative commentator Monica Crowley, who the president-elect has selected for an administration role, amid an investigation that claims she plagiarized much of her 2012 book, What the (Bleep) Just Happened.
The transition team labeled an investigation by CNN that details up to 50 examples of plagiarism in the book a "politically motivated attack" on Crowley "that seeks to distract from the real issues facing this country." Crowley, a columnist, radio host and former Fox News contributor, has been tapped to serve as senior director of strategic communications for the National Security Council.
CNN reports that she lifted portions of work done by other columnists, think tanks, news reporters and Wikipedia writers for inclusion in What the (Bleep) Just Happened with only minor alterations to the language. The outlets and writers who Crowley allegedly plagiarized include: Fox News, the Mises Institute, the BBC, Yahoo, New York Post, Wall Street Journal, Politico, New York Times, Associated Press, Karl Rove, Stephen Moore, Ramesh Ponnuru, Michelle Malkin, Rich Lowry and more.
CNN's analysis includes side-by-side examples of much of the work in question, with many passages that appear to be lifted wholesale from other sources. In other instances she appears to have made slight changes to phrases within passages that otherwise retain the structure and language of the original sources.
The report states that neither Crowley nor her publisher, HarperCollins, returned multiple calls for comment on the allegations.
"Monica’s exceptional insight and thoughtful work on how to turn this country around is exactly why she will be serving in the Administration," a statement from a transition spokesperson said. "HarperCollins—one of the largest and most respected publishers in the world—published her book which has become a national best-seller. Any attempt to discredit Monica is nothing more than a politically motivated attack that seeks to distract from the real issues facing this country."
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