I ask every so often: Where is Melania's Spechwriter? (Not FLOTUS, but who they said wrote for her)

[LaydeeBug]

The press just has not done it's job with this candidate.

And by us not demanding the follow up...by not demanding to see this woman and that she is an actual *person (many on DU insisted she was) we are letting them get away with it.

So where is she?

[sarae]

1. Imagine the press's reaction had Hillary Clinton

blamed a PLAGIARIZED speech on a person who doesn't even appear to exist!

The non-reaction of the press is stunning.

[LaydeeBug]

2. Non-reaction? They *refuse* to work. nt

[randome]

3. There may be a real Meredith McIver but she is not the person who works for Trump.

I agree, it would be awesome to get an admission that she is fictitious but what can an enterprising journalist do? Demand to see her and then demand she prove who she is?

That's not going to get us anywhere.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]Don't underestimate the long-term effects of a good night's sleep.[/center][/font][hr]

[LaydeeBug]

5. Is there not a God-damned camera anywhere in NYC? She is *fake*

Has she worked for Trump for a decade or more? Where are the company photos at the Holiday parties?

[randome]

7. All valid questions and all easily dismissed.

"She doesn't attend parties."

"I'm not sure if that's her or not."

"We don't comment on personnel matters. She values her privacy."

It's infuriating as hell, isn't it? But Family Trump have elevated obfuscation to an art form.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]Don't underestimate the long-term effects of a good night's sleep.[/center][/font][hr]

[NewJeffCT]

18. She prefers to spend time with her husband, John Barron

and not at company parties. With our generous telecommuting benefits, she often works from home as well.

[randome]

36. Exactly. Oh, shit, we're starting to think like Trump!

[hr][font color="blue"][center]Don't underestimate the long-term effects of a good night's sleep.[/center][/font][hr]

[muriel_volestrangler]

6. Pointless. The Guardian met her years ago. It makes people look paranoid

if they insist on not believing someone exists for no good reason. Why does she matter to you anyway? She's a writer employed by Trump. She doesn't even write the awful stuff for him, as far as we can tell.

The dodgy employees he has are those who come from Breitbart, or do work for dubious Russian concerns. Demand more is found out about them.

[randome]

8. A woman breezed into the office and dropped some papers on the desk.

That in no way means that woman was "the" Meredith McIver. Her social media accounts were created only recently in order to buttress the idea that she exists as an employee of Trump, Inc.

You can put any name you want on a book, that doesn't mean there is a Meredith McIver or that she contributed to the writing.

With Trump's history of using fake names, it's entirely understandable, imo, to doubt she is an active employee.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]Don't underestimate the long-term effects of a good night's sleep.[/center][/font][hr]

[muriel_volestrangler]

9. The last thing we need is to author a conspiracy theory about why we demand more photos of a woman

The woman was introduced as Meredith McIver. Why would they have lied about that several years ago? Why would there be a relatively recent photo of the woman, looking like the girl listed in her school yearbook as Meredith McIver, if they weren't the same person? What would you do with another photo of her? What would you do if you found out her address, or whatever information about her you are now demanding?

This smacks, ironically, of birther desperation. They wouldn't accept the multiple lines of evidence either. But they were at least weaving their conspiracy theory about something that mattered - a candidate. You're doing it with an employee, as if there's a desperate need to hide who decided to put Michelle Obama's lines into Melania Trump's speech. No one concocts a cover story over multiple years just to have someone to blame for speeches that turn out bad.

Have a sense of perspective, for goodness' sake. Trump and his organisation have done a thousand worse things than plagiarize a speech. You're not going to win a single vote over by getting a new photo of the woman. It's wild goose chase.

[randome]

11. Not a conspiracy theory at all. Just another Trump lie.

McIver has obviously been photoshopped in these 2 pictures. Remember Trump's Razor Theory: that the most inane explanation for an event in the Trump Universe is often the correct one.

I agree we won't get anywhere by pursuing this, for reasons I outlined above, but I am firmly convinced that McIver is fictitious, insofar as there is an actual person by that name who actively contributes to the Trump campaign.

Anyone who knows my previous postings will know that I usually disdain conspiracy theories but this one, imo, contains germs of truth.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]Don't underestimate the long-term effects of a good night's sleep.[/center][/font][hr]

[muriel_volestrangler]

12. No, it's a conspiracy theory

The Trump photo is obviously faked, and badly - you can see the hair of the women in the blue jumper behind Trump, next to the picture on the wall. Tell me who produced that photo.

But that shows they started from that 2nd photo, and I can't see any sign it's faked. Tell me who produced that photo.

http://www.snopes.com/meredith-mciver-exists/ Snopes says it's a conspiracy theory that is false.

They suggest a Google search from before the speech; that turns up things like:

George Wright III, CEO of Net Marketing Alliance, said the company was able to engage the Trumps as speakers for its conferences because of company co-founder Mitch Huhem's relationship with Donald Trump as well as the networking ties provided by Meredith McIver, a co-author for Trump's book, "How to Get Rich."

"McIver was speaking at several of our events, and she had enjoyed working with us. She told Trump about us and we went to New York, met with him and picked out a date for him to come out and speak at one of our events in Dayton, Ohio, last summer. He brought the film crew from 'The Apprentice' to film the event," Wright said.

http://www.heraldextra.com/news/trump-kids-the-real-apprentices/article_7caf068a-56b0-5951-81ad-5ac0bcce5177.html

Meredith McIver, who co-wrote Trump tomes including “Trump 101: The Way to Success,” also works as a ghostwriter for Trump and worked with him on blog posts and Q & A's for Trump University, according to Sexton.

“Certainly Miss McGiver (sic) created content for our newsletter and our blog, but, you know, it was fairly collaborative. Mr. Trump was always — he would come up with often the topic and then ultimately would approve the — the copy as well,” Sexton said in a deposition.

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/03/trump-university-lawsuit-documents-220181

Are you saying people were preparing for this years ago? That they lied in a deposition, just to keep going a story about a Trump employee that had no discernible purpose? That's what makes it a conpsiracy theory - multiple people doing things for years with no logic to it.

[randome]

13. Trump used the John Barron and John Miller pseudonyms for years.

People were convinced those people existed, too. For a time.

Yes, I think the Trump Family keeps names such as this "on tap" to be used when warranted. Is it really believable that anyone who has supposedly written copy for years for the Trumps would actually plagiarize Michelle Obama's speech?

"McIver was speaking at several of our events." That's the closest I've seen to evidence that a real person like this exists. But this is coming from a Trump supporter so... And again, anyone can be introduced as Meredith McIver but that doesn't mean that's who you're speaking with.

Everything else you mention is unsubstantiated. Trump came up with topics and approved copies? Yeah, that sounds like the thoughtful, "hands-on" Trump we've come to know. Not.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]Don't underestimate the long-term effects of a good night's sleep.[/center][/font][hr]

[muriel_volestrangler]

14. You're so deep in the weeds of the conpsiracy, I beg you to pull out

for your own sanity. No, a deposition is not "unsubstantiated". No, a Guardian article is not "unsubstantiated". No, a school yearbook is not "unsubstantiated" (I mentioned it before, but that's the first time I've linked to it). No, Snopes is not 'unsubstantiated'.

"Yes, I think the Trump Family keeps names such as this "on tap" to be used when warranted" - "anyone can be introduced as Meredith McIver but that doesn't mean that's who you're speaking with. " - and that's the paranoid garbage you need to learn to leave behind. Seriously. What good does it do them? People laughed at 'Barron' and 'Miller' the first time round, but didn't care. Why would they have a person there, but hide her real name?

"Is it really believable that anyone who has supposedly written copy for years for the Trumps would actually plagiarize Michelle Obama's speech? " Yes. There have been many cases of established writers stealing copy. Fuck, Joe Biden did it from Neil Kinnock, and that was a major reason his first presidential candidacy sunk. There are the cases of writers for the NYT and The Independent plagiarising. You dismiss the guy talking about speakers as "a Trump supporter", but that was from before Melania's speech. He'd need to be in on your conspiracy without a purpose.

"Trump came up with topics and approved copies?" Yes, that does sound like Trump. Trump says "write something about needing to dominate the conversation" (fuck knows what Trump University did talk about), and then says "I want to see it before you put my name on it". That doesn't mean he carefully edited it and considered it, just that he wanted them to show it to him before it was published. It's him wanting to be in control, while others do the work. It sounds exactly like Trump.

[LaydeeBug]

20. um...a jr high school pic from 1962 is not proof that this is the one.

and while we're at it, you linked to HuffPo and all THEY do is quote the Trump campaign. Nice try. No dice.

[muriel_volestrangler]

22. The face is very similar. Since it's entirely independent, yes, it's proof.

No, HuffPost showed the picture, which was found by ancestry.com. Don't misrepresent what they did. Nice try. But you really shouldn't make things up.

Really, are you trying to make DU look bad?

[LaydeeBug]

25. I'm not trying to make DU look bad, but I think you're projecting a bit

Again...a jr high school yearbook pic from 1962 is hardly proof. And I don't care if it came from the FBI.

[abetterkid]

19. Man...

Those pics are so obviously photoshopped that they make me embarrassed. It's just creepy that people would go through such lengths.

They didn't want to admit that Melania wrote much of that speech the night before and didn't have anyone vet it because she was nervous that she would be judged as dumb.

[LaydeeBug]

16. Read The Guardian piece. Dubious at best. nt

[muriel_volestrangler]

21. Dubious in what way? Be specific.

Are you saying that several years ago, Trump had someone not called Meredith McIver come in and call themselves Meredith McIver, just to fuck around with The Guardian? That you think The Guardian is part of Trump's decade-long conspiracy to pass one person off as another?

[LaydeeBug]

26. No. I am saying the lack of credible evidence that this person even exists at all

shows this to be dubious. Trump has used this pseudonym before, and never has this person been produced.

Trump has used others as well. No one followed up on this.

[muriel_volestrangler]

29. We have pictures, multiple witnesses, a legal deposition and voter details

(and I think there's residence details too). That's more evidence online that she exists than there is for me. It's all credible. Why do you think Snopes dismisses the theory as false?

This thread is an embarrassment to DU. It's a left-wing birther idea, but for no gain whatsoever.

[LaydeeBug]

31. You have 2 pictures, a handful of of "they said she existed way back when" and

nothing else.

It is embarrassing that you try to marginalize this issue by lumping it in with birthers, etc, but I disagree with your characterization.

[muriel_volestrangler]

32. No, we have 2 pictures - which are all that's needed - people saying she exists now,

a legal document saying she exists, and there's still more:

The coach dialed information to get a number for Trump Enterprises, then called the main line, where he talked a receptionist into transferring him to Trump’s personal assistant, Meredith McIver.

Leach didn’t get to speak to Trump that day, but as he walked the streets of New York City with cabs honking in the background and his daughters exchanging amused looks as they trailed along behind him, he bonded with McIver in a phone conversation that centered on their Utah ties – he went to BYU and she’s a Utah alum.

“All she knows at the end of the conversation – I don’t think she’s that into sports – is that I’m the head football coach from Texas Tech, I (lived in) Utah, and I thought they had a good book,” Leach said. “She said: ‘Well, we always appreciate positive feedback and Mr. Trump is a huge football fan. He’ll probably know who you are. You never know, he might call you sometime.’”

http://www.seattletimes.com/sports/wsu-cougar-football/how-wsu-coach-mike-leach-and-donald-trump-developed-a-unique-friendship/

From April - before the speech.

This is not a 'issue'. The sane world - Snopes, The Guardian, the Washington Post, the entire media - knows she exists. And don't care, because she was just a speechwriter who stole some lines.

[LaydeeBug]

33. This article talks about someone ON THE PHONE!!! Not someone they actually met

wow.

[muriel_volestrangler]

34. So you're continuing with the ongoing conspiracy theory that they constantly pretended

one of them was Meredith McIver, for no apparent reason, for years? Why? what possible advantage to them was there in using a false name for an assistant/ghostwriter, when that person actually exists in photos, and public records?

What do you think they were doing?

Have you actually thought about this, or is this entirely based on "Trump lies, therefore everything about his life must be a lie?"

[LaydeeBug]

35. So your proof is someone recalling talking to someone on the phone who said they were her?

Good grief.

[muriel_volestrangler]

37. My proof is:

A legal deposition about her
A recent photo of her, showing her to be the same person as a 1962 school photo of a girl with the same name
A Guardian article about meeting her
More articles about other people meeting her, written before the insane conspiracy theorists decided that chemtrails weren't enough for them, they had to deflect from the actual campaign against Trump with pointless bullshit about an employee who they think has been a mantufactured personality for a decade or more
Her biography on her publisher's website
Her voter record
The entire media who recognise she's a real person
Snopes.

Your idea is batshit. Yes, it's on a par with birtherism, though thankfully without any consequences whatsoever, because no-one cares about this woman. She plagiarised Michelle Obama, Trump looked stupid again, we can move on.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

10. The whole thing is a weird series of infuriating dead ends.

Trump claims that a woman named Meredith McIver wrote Melania's speech, that she worked for the Trump Organization, that she's a former ballerina who trained at the School of American Ballet, and that this is a picture of her on the left:

?quality=65&strip=all&strip=all


What we actually know to be true:

1. There are records of a woman named Meredith McIver who attended the School of American Ballet.
2. The Trump Organization has referenced the name Meredith McIver for years in conjunction with Trump's writings, long preceding the 2016 election.
3. The woman in the photograph appears to have her picture taken in Donald Trump's office.

What we don't know to be true:

1. Whether the former Ballerina Meredith McIver is indeed the same Meredith McIver said to be employed by the Trump Organization
2. Whether there actually is a Meredith McIver employed by the Trump Organization
3. Whether the woman in the photograph is the purported Meredith McIver claimed to be employed by the Trump Organization

So many questions, so very few answers. It's hardly the most pressing issue of the election, but it really underscores the absolute absurdity about everything surrounding the 2016 Republican nominee.

[Sunlei]

15. trump wrote it (stole it)He personally made her practice in 'the tower home' every night.

that's why she ran off to Europe as soon as it was over.

[jcgoldie]

17. She's fake

But on the list of Trump dirt it just doesn't rate very close to the top.

[tblue37]

23. Where in the world is Meredith McGyver? nt

[anneboleyn]

24. Same place as Trump's taxes. Seriously, the idea that this carnival act is anywhere near the Oval

Office, now with a last-minute assist by Comey, is just very scary. And yes the press totally failed on the ridiculous "Meredith McIver" story. They should have tracked down exactly who was responsible for Melania's speech as it said a lot about Trump and his campaign not to mention how he views Melania. I certainly don't think she wrote the speech (even though she's been living in the US for twenty years her English is extremely rough -- also given the stakes of a convention there is no way she was left to her own devices), and the fact that it blatantly plagiarized Michelle Obama's speech was certainly an important news story.

But of course the press totally dropped the ball on this story, and they have dropped the ball on Clinton's taxes. Now they have shiny "emails" to blather on about incessantly.

[LaydeeBug]

27. seriously. Has this woman not been to a THING in umpteen years?

There are no traffic tickets, no nothing...real estate.

Where is she?

[muriel_volestrangler]

38. And one more thing - yes, there are real estate records

You can search them yourself here: https://a836-acris.nyc.gov/DS/DocumentSearch/PartyNameResult

You get:



which buzzfeed did: https://www.buzzfeed.com/ellievhall/guys-please-this-convention-is-crazy-enough-without-meredith?utm_term=.avXnRX5KrY#.okaBD6n0N7

Yes, that's another organisation you need to add to your ever-increasing list of people in on this hoax you want to be happening.

[LaydeeBug]

39. Nice...and yet, with a Royal "R" I still say

"Rrrriiiiiiiiiiiiight"

Any real pic. This is 2016. Camera footage of her walking in and out of *anywhere*. This is NYC in 2016.

You're welcome!

[SweetieD]

28. It is probably a penname

when all this first broke and I googled the name. A site come up from a life coach with a picture of Meredith and said she was a writer. The coach had pictures with several different people. It appeared to be from a couple of years ago. It was the same woman in the other pictures people found.

I think it is a real person although it may not be her real name. Likely a penname used for writing books, which is not illegal or unusual.

[Madam45for2923]

30. https://twitter.com/MeredithMcTrump

https://twitter.com/MeredithMcTrump

[LaydeeBug]

40. I am sooooo glad I am not alone in this.

It is absolutely ludicrous that *anyone* would think this is vast left wing conspiracy shit.

I rrrrrepeat (with the royal "r) "Is there not a God damn camera in all of NYC?"