Fox News Pundit (and Haverford Grad) Juan Williams Caught Plagiarizing

Fox pundit and Haverford grad Juan Williams, lifted entire passages of his column in The Hill on immigration last month from a report issued by the liberal think tank Center for American Progress. Others were craftily paraphrased. Here’s some direct copy-and-pasting.

CAP:

These big gains occur because legalized workers earn higher wages than undocumented workers, and they use those wages to buy things such as houses, cars, phones, and clothing. … Hinojosa-Ojeda found that the tax benefits alone from legalization would be between $4.5 billion and $5.4 billion in the first three years.

Williams:

These big gains occur because legalized workers earn higher wages than undocumented workers, and they use those wages to buy things and stimulate the economy through commerce. Professor Hinojosa-Ojeda also calculated that the tax benefits alone from legalization would be between $4.5 billion and $5.4 billion in the first three years.

Williams, naturally, blamed the whole thing on his research assistant, who promptly offered a letter of resignation. Last summer, when CNN/Time megapundit Fareed Zakaria had his own brush with plagiarism, he also blamed a research assistant. Which really doesn’t make you look any better; either way, you’re not writing your own columns. By the way, Juan, maybe it’s time to brush up on the beloved old Haverford Honor Code. [Salon]