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High-ranking State Department official resigns over accusations of misleading claims in résumé

The Trump administration appointee delivered a letter of resignation to Mike Pompeo, effective immediately, citing a toxic environment at the State Department.
Credit: US Department of State

WASHINGTON — A Trump administration official who has been accused of exaggerating her resume's academic credentials and even creating a fake Time magazine cover that has an image of her face on it has resigned. 


Mina Chang, deputy assistant secretary for the Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations delivered a resignation letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, effective immediately, after accusations that she exorbitantly inflated her resume before getting the job were first reported by NBC earlier in November. 

Chang's profile has already been removed from the U.S. Department of State's website.

In a letter to Pompeo obtained by multiple media outlets, the high-ranking State Department official cites "a character assassination based solely on innuendo," and says "it is disappointing that I have never been afforded the opportunity, or any due process whatsoever, to respond to the allegations levied against me."  

CNN reports that Mina Chang was a political appointee connected to senior State Department official Brian Bulatao, a friend of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. 

Credit: US Department of State
Brian Bulatao, US Department of State

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In the letter Chang describes the State Department as having a "morally bankrupt leadership structure."

Chang says that she was fully vetted before the appointment to her post saying her “background was fully investigated by the FBI and State Department’s Diplomatic Security. No questions were raised or concerns identified during the process.”

In her resignation letter to Pompeo, Chang described the environment at the State Department as being in crisis and says she attached answers that she gave to NBC reporters Dan De Luce, Laura Strickler and Ari Sen, who originally reported on her alleged resume inaccuracies, to the letter to Pompeo. 

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