Former Fox News veteran reporter Monica Crowley won’t be returning to the cable news network that spawned her career any time soon.
The White House announced this week that Crowley will join the administration as a spokeswoman for the Treasury Department, adding her name to a growing list of former Fox News journalists employed by President Donald Trump.
The newest addition
Crowley will reportedly be assigned to Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin’s team as the assistant secretary for public affairs. She is expected to replace departing spokesman Tony Sayegh, who is scheduled to depart the administration next month.
Although she technically left Fox News in 2017 to join the Trump administration as a senior communications aide to former national security adviser Michael Flynn, Crowley decided to hold off on her public service ambitions after she was accused of plagiarizing sections from her book and Ph.D. thesis. Since then, the former reporter and Republican lobbyist has been a frequent guest contributor on the network that she first joined 23 years ago.
A researcher for former President Richard Nixon as he penned his final two books, Crowley wrote a dissertation as a Columbia University Ph.D. candidate exploring U.S. foreign policy toward China under the Harry Truman and Nixon administrations. A subsequent Politico report found multiple intentional and unintentional examples of plagiarism in this document, as well as in Crowley’s 2012 book, What the (Bleep) Just Happened.
Initially, the Trump administration stood behind their appointment. A spokesperson for the transitioning administration told CNN in 2017: “Any attempt to discredit Monica is nothing more than a politically motivated attack that seeks to distract from the real issues facing this country.”
However, public pressure eventually prompted Crowley to reconsider her career options, even though her position within the National Security Council did not require Senate approval.
But Crowley’s fortunes changed when Treasury Department spokesman Tony Sayegh, another former Fox News contributor who played a key role in orchestrating the GOP’s tax overhaul, announced that he would be leaving the White House in May.
Cut from the same cloth
Crowley should fit in nicely with Mnuchin’s Treasury Department. Indeed, the conservative commentator has effectively been working off the clock as an administration cheerleader on social media.
On Thursday morning, Crowley shared a graph on Twitter showing “initial jobless claims” have plummeted in recent weeks, reaching a 50-year low this month, and earlier this week, she heaped praise on the president for out-fundraising his top two Democratic opponents combined, marveling at the “unprecedented war chest” Trump has accumulated so far.
More great economic news, thanks to @realDonaldTrump -> “Initial Jobless Claims Tumble To Fresh 50 Year Lows” https://t.co/IEjt29kpUF
— Monica Crowley (@MonicaCrowley) April 18, 2019
Crowley is just the latest in a crowded class of former Fox New television personalities to join the administration. Communications staff have been heavily recruited by the Republican president, beginning with former Fox News co-president Bill Shine, who served as Trump’s chief of staff for communications until his resignation last month.
In addition to Shine, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert, White House Director of Strategic Communications Mercedes Schlapp, and former White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci were each plucked from Fox News’ television studios to serve in the White House.
With decades of experience reporting on conservative causes and lobbying on behalf Republican lawmakers, Crowley should fit right in when she joins the Treasury Department.
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