Trump Nominee Monica Crowley Felled by Plagiarism Scandal

Posted on January 17, 2017

Monica Crowley, Donald Trump's nominee to be senior director of strategic communications for the National Security Council, has withdrawn from consideration for the post after a plagiarism scandal. The New York Times reports that the conservative commentator and author withdrew after allegations that she plagiarized major sections of her 2012 book What the (Bleep) Just Happened?

The book was critical of President Barack Obama and his policies. It was published by Broadside Books, an imprint of HarperCollins. CNN reported that Ms. Crowley copies passages from other sources without attribution in 50 instances.

Then Politico reported that Ms. Crowley plagiarized many passages in her Ph.D dissertation. Politico read her dissertation and found that she copied around a dozen sections of the book. Some of the passages were footnoted, but did not actually quote text that was lifted verbatim. Politco says she also stole whole sections from scholarly articles without quotes or attrition of any kind.

Politico says that she copied sections from "conservative columns, news articles, Wikipedia and in one case a podiatrist's website." Her dissertation is titled "Clearer Than Truth: Determining and Preserving Grand Strategy: The Evolution of American Policy Toward the People's Republic of China Under Truman and Nixon." She submitted it to Columbia University in 2000 as part of the requirements for receiving her Ph.D. in international relations.

Ms. Crowley did not mention the plagiarism charges in her statement to The Washington Times about the matter which said, "After much reflection, I have decided to remain in New York to pursue other opportunities and will not be taking a position in the incoming administration. I greatly appreciate being asked to be part of President-elect Trump's team, and I will continue to enthusiastically support him and his agenda for American renewal."

HarperCollins has pulled the electronic version of her book from sale. No word yet as to what Columbia University will do.