Monica Crowley believes that the plagiarism scandal that sunk her appointment as President Trump’s national security spokeswoman was a “political hit job” and claimed that the charges have been “debunked.”
Crowley made the comments to Fox News on Tuesday night, telling host Sean Hannity that the perceived attacks against her were a “test,” along with other attacks against other administration officials in an effort to get to Trump himself. The comments came less than two months after Crowley left the Trump transition team days before the inauguration after CNN and others reported that she lifted unattributed passages in her book and columns from other sources.
“What happened to me was a despicable, straight-up political hit job, okay?” Crowley said. “It’s been debunked, my editor has completely supported me and backed me up. There is a very toxic, and is getting increasingly toxic, and poisonous atmosphere of personal destruction in Washington and in the media. It’s always sort of been there, but now it’s at a whole different level, and this is exactly why smart and good people do not want to go into government service.”
“The attack on me was a test,” Crowley said. “What happened to me, what happened to Gen. [Mike] Flynn, what’s happened to Attorney General [Jeff] Sessions and others is all of a piece. There is a very dangerous and very effective destabilization campaign underway against this president, his administration and his agenda.”
Despite Crowley’s claims, her plagiarism charges have not been dismissed. HarperCollins, the publisher of her book “What the (Bleep) Just Happened?,” removed her book from sale. However, she continued to warn against what opponents are pushing against the president and others within the administration.
“I hope the president understands this, having been a victim of this myself,” she said. “They are out for blood.”
