Michelle Fields of the Huffington Post recently released a “book,” which research by attorney Travis Miller reveals is rife with plagiarism. Fields’ “book” is best described as a re-write of news articles. The plagiarism is startling and undeniable, as you’ll see below, and we only reviewed a few pages of her work.
Fields plagiarized several articles and authors, including Steve Eder, Michael Barbaro, Joshua Green, Brent Scher, and Matthew Boyle.
To understand the scope and extent of Fields plagiarism, compare the passages from her book to the articles she stole from. You can download the full Michelle Fields plagiarism chart here.
Fields thought she would get away with her plagiarism, as she was careful to not steal direct sentences. (Plagiarism software programs usually only catch people who copy word-for-word.) Fields instead took the work of others without giving them attribution.
The New York Times plagiarism incident
For example, in a NYT article, “As Dynasty’s Son, Jeb Bush Used His Connections Freely,” the authors wrote:
In 1990, Mr. Bush lobbied the White House to meet with executives of the telecommunications giant Motorola — fostering a relationship that would later aid his own political ambitions. (The chief of staff did meet with Motorola, as did President Bush.)
“I urge you to visit with Motorola at your convenience to see first-hand how the Motorola experience can help our country (including agencies in the federal government),” Mr. Bush wrote, appending a 14-page presentation from the company. In the following months, not only did Mr. Sununu, the chief of staff, meet with Motorola executives, but so did the president himself.
In her “book,” Fields uses this exact information without mentioning where she got it from:
In 1990, Jeb reached out to his father’s office to set up a meeting with executives from Motorola, a major donor to the Republican Party in Florida. He wanted his dad to meet with Christopher Galvin, CEO of Motorola.
“I urge you to visit with Motorola at your convenience,” wrote Jeb, “to see first-hand how the Motorola experience can help our country (including agencies in the federal government).” He sent the message with an attachment containing a presentation from Motorola.
Jeb’s efforts to set up the meeting proved beneficial to Galvin. When Jeb’s brother George W. Bush became president, he appointed Galvin to a committee that advised the executive office on telecommunications issues.
Here’s the NYT article again:
While Mr. Bush’s father welcomed his input, staff members did not always share that enthusiasm. The archives reveal polite but firm attempts to rein him in. Jane Kenny, special assistant to Mr. Bush’s father when he was vice president, twice wrote to ask Mr. Bush to route requests for appointments through her instead of contacting an agency or office directly.
“That way,” Ms. Kenny wrote, “there will be no chance for misunderstanding.”
Here is Fields:
In fact, he apparently pinged the White House so much that his father’s staff members had to come up with new ways to deal with the influx of his requests. One solution, proposed by an assistant to his father named Jane Kenny, was for Jeb to stop sending requests directly to government agencies and offices. She politely asked him to just send all requests to her.
“That way,” Kenny wrote, “there will be no chance for misunderstanding.”
The Times:
Mr. Gray replied that if there were an opening, Judge Fay would get “thoughtful consideration.” The ambition of the request fit a pattern for Mr. Bush, who also recommended allies seeking other major positions, like head of White House security and Internal Revenue Service commissioner.
Fields:
Gray responded by informing Jeb that his ally would get “thoughtful consideration.” Jeb recommended other friends for the head of White House security and the IRS commissioner.
The Bloomberg plagiarism incident.
Joshua Green of Bloomberg wrote:
For Jeb Bush, the family name has been a more propitious credential in China. In 2011 he visited the tropical island of Hainan, off China’s southern coast, and received a dignitary’s welcome from the governor of Hainan province, Luo Baoming. According to Chinese media reports, Bush, bedecked in a necklace of flowers, praised Hainan’s environmental and economic development and spoke hopefully of establishing stronger ties between Hainan and Florida.
Fields wrote:
When Jeb arrived in Hainan, China, in 2011 to improve relations between Chinese and Florida businesses, he received the type of greeting that an ambassador or president of the United States would have received. The governor of Hainan – who had visited Florida earlier in the year – greeted Bush with a necklace of flowers.
Bloomberg:
While BH Global Aviation doesn’t publicly disclose the nature of its business, a source close to Bush says the fund has invested in Hawker Pacific, an aviation sales and services company based in Hong Kong. “Boeing, every year, projects the Chinese to buy 8 zillion planes,” says Scissors. “HNA is looking to do more business in the U.S., and as an aviation firm, there’s certainly plenty of potential for U.S.-China cooperation on airplanes.”
Fields:
Because of the lack of transparency with Jeb’s funds, one cannot fully know the nature of his investors and investments. However, according to sources close to Jeb, BH Global Aviation has invested in a Hong Kong company called Hawker Pacific.
Bloomberg:
Another is Guang Yang, CEO of Finergy Capital, a Beijing-based private equity fund. In 2010, Yang joined with Hainan Airlines to acquire the Pasadera Country Club and golf course in Monterey, Calif. Yang renamed it for his limited partner Jack Nicklaus. Last year the Monterey Herald noted that what is now the Nicklaus Club-Monterey “has been acting as a hub for U.S.-Chinese business relations.” (“It’s nice,” Nicklaus told the Herald.)
Fields:
However, one of the names of the investors has been disclosed: Guang Yang. He is the CEO of a Beijing company called Finergy Capital, and, not surprisingly, he has ties to Hainan. In 2010 Yang partnered with Hainan Airlines and bought an upscale country club in California.
The Free Beacon plagiarism incident.
Bren Scher wrote in “Hillary Clinton’s War on Women“:
Hillary Clinton portrays herself as a champion of women in the workforce, but women working for her in the U.S. Senate were paid 72 cents for each dollar paid to men, according to a Washington Free Beacon analysis of her Senate years’ salary data.
Fields wrote:
Hillary Clinton fancies herself a champion for equal pay in the workforce. Although she publicly advocates for the destruction of the glass ceiling, there clearly seems to have been a glass ceiling in her office when she was a senator: Her female staffers were paid 72 cents for each dollar paid to male staffers.
Fields lifted more background information without attribution from the Free Beacon. In an article by staff entitled, “Men Average $11,505 Higher Salary than Women in Dick Durbin’s Senate Office,” the Beacon wrote:
The average female salary is $11,505 lower than the average male salary in Durbin’s office, according to an analysis of Senate salary data from fiscal year 2013 that showed that more than two-thirds of Democratic Senate offices pay men more than women.
Not a single member of the Senate Democrat leadership has a female chief of staff or communications director, the Washington Times points out.
Fields wrote:
According to the data available for fiscal year 2013, the average female salary in Durbin’s office is more than $11,000 less than the average male salary.
Meanwhile, if you looked at the staff of the Democratic leadership at the time, not even one of them had a female chief of staff or communications director-two of the highest and often most-well-paid positions in a congressional office.
Some of Fields plagiarism is worse than others, although a clear pattern emerges.
Fields will freely steal the work of others, re-writing it without providing attribution.
We have only reviewed a few pages of Fields’ “book,” yet we caught numerous instances of theft. Her other work no doubt must undergo full editorial review.
Fields is a plagiarist, although you can expect the dishonest media to cover this up.
Again, see for yourself. Here is a chart comparing Fields’ “book” to numerous articles she took material from without giving anyone credit.
Let the media cover it up, but as always I’ll be on the case giving the truth, busting media hoaxes, and raising hell!
- Read now: Why I am the Most Feared Man in Media.