A senior official at the State Department who came under fire after NBC News reported that she fabricated aspects of her professional and educational background, which included a fake TIME Magazine cover of herself, has reportedly resigned.
According to a resignation letter obtained by Politico Monday afternoon, Mina Chang — who served as the deputy assistant secretary in the State Department’s Bureau of Conflict and Stability Operations — wrote that “resigning is the only acceptable moral and ethical option for me at this time.” Politico reported that her resignation is effective immediately.
Last week, NBC News reported that Chang embellished her resume by inflating her nonprofit’s accomplishments and fabricating a role at a U.N. panel on her nonprofit’s website.
In her resignation letter, Chang stated that “the Department of State is experiencing what I and many believe is the worst and most profound moral crisis confronting career professionals and political appointees in the Department’s history.”
Politico reported that Chang’s letter also took aim at the State Department for not coming to her defense after “character assassination.”
“A character assassination based solely on innuendo was launched against me attacking my credentials and character,” Chang wrote in the letter, according to Politico. “My superiors at the Department refused to defend me, stand up for the truth or allow me to answer the false charges against me.”
Earlier Monday, NBC News reported on the rift between President Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo centering around the President taking issue with Pompeo’s hiring of State Department officials who have provided damning testimony for Trump, which include top Ukraine diplomat Bill Taylor. Pompeo reportedly told Trump that he doesn’t know who half of these State Department officials are and pointed out that there are thousands of employees at the agency whom he can’t control.
TPM has reached out to the State Department for comment and will update this post if we hear back.
Read Politico’s report here.
