CNN is reporting that Betsy DeVos may have plagiarized parts of her written answers to questions from Senators following her recent confirmation hearing. Although the committee forwarded her nomination to the full Senate today, her nomination is on very shaky ground already, and if true, this might be enough to tank her nomination.
One quotation appears to have been lifted from Vanita Gupta, the head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division under Obama, regarding bullying of LGBT youth:
Betsy DeVos: “Every child deserves to attend school in a safe, supportive environment where they can learn, thrive, and grow.”
Vanita Gupta: “Every child deserves to attend school in a safe, supportive environment that allows them to thrive and grow."
Another quotation appears to have been copied from he Department of Education’s website:
Betsy DeVos: "Opening a complaint for investigation in no way implies that the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has made a determination about the merits of the complaint.”
Dept. of Ed.: “Opening a complaint for investigation in no way implies that OCR has made a determination with regard to the merits of the complaint.”
In neither case was any attribution given.
Sorry for the short diary on this developing story.