In the wake of allegations that Melania Trump's 2016 Republican National Convention speech was plagiarized, borrowing easily identifiable parts from Michelle Obama's 2008 Democratic National Convention speech, a member of The Trump Organization stepped forward to accept responsibility for the mix up.
A statement with the Trump letterhead revealed that Meredith McIver, a woman claiming to be an in-house staff writer for the Trumps, said that, "over the phone, (Melania) read ... some passages from Mrs. Obama's speech as examples," which were "later included ... in the draft that ultimately became the final speech."
Immediately following the statement's release, internet users and news outlets began searching for more information about McIver. Many people claimed she wasn't a real person, and that The Trump Organization had written and released the statement, using a fake name.
In the hours after the release, a search for McIver on social sites like Twitter and Facebook yielded results of fake accounts.
But a deeper dive may reveal more about McIver.
- McIver said in the statement that she is a "longtime friend and admirer of the Trump family." She also said that she offered her resignation to the Trumps, but it was rejected.
- A now deleted biography on the All American Speakers Bureau website said McIver has been part of The Trump Organization since 2001.
- The same biography said McIver, a California native, had trained at George Balanchine's School of American Ballet from the age of 14 and that she had graduated with honors with a degree in English from the University of Utah.
- She has co-written four books with Donald Trump, and according to a 2007 deposition for a civil lawsuit, Trump said McIver was to blame for several factual errors about his wealth in two of the books. "This is somebody that wrote it, probably Meredith McIver. That is a mistake," he said in reference to one of those errors, The Washington Post reported.
- In "How to Get Rich," Trump says McIver was his executive assistant at The Trump Organization and calls her a "writer of many talents" in the book's acknowledgements. "As you know, my door is always open, so Meredith has heard everything, and she's taken good notes," he wrote. "She's done a remarkable job of helping me put my thoughts and experiences on paper. I am tremendously grateful to her."
- According to BuzzFeed News, McIver is a registered Democrat living in Manhattan.
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