The hits keep coming for Colorado Republican Scott McInnis.
After revealing instances of apparent plagiarism in a series of articles the gubernatorial candidate wrote on water policy in 2005 and 2006, the Denver Post now claims it has found “striking similarities” between a column written by McInnis and one published in The Washington Post.
“There is a growing popular belief in South Korea that the North has outmaneuvered Washington and marginalized the South’s role,” wrote Richard V. Allen and Daryl M. Plunk in a Washington Post Op-Ed published Nov. 9, 1994.
Six weeks later, McInnis wrote in the Rocky Mountain News: “There is growing South Korean sentiment that North Korea has outmaneuvered Washington and marginalized the South’s input into this issue.”
A month after that, he made the same statement on the House floor with only minor alteration.
McInnis’ spokesperson declined to comment on the new findings.
Yesterday, Mcinnis did issue a statement addressing the original revelation of plagiarism. “It’s unacceptable, it’s inexcusable, but it was also unintentional,” he said. McInnis continues to blame a researcher, Rolly Fisher, for the incident. “I made a mistake, and should have been more vigilant in my review of research material Rolly submitted,” he said.
Fisher did not return a phone call from TPM, but when reached by the Glenwood Springs Post Independent he said only “Scott’s responsible for it” and refused to comment further.
Meanwhile, McInnis went further to push the scandal away from himself in an interview with 9News, his first public remarks since the scandal broke.
“This is a non-issue if it’s not a political year. Voters don’t really care about this issue. They care about jobs, getting back to work.” McInnis said, adding: “I’m not perfect. There was a mistake. As governor, you’ve got to deal with these things.”
