A reminder for everyone covering the President's joke about Senator Elizabeth Warren:
- Elizabeth Warren lied about her ancestry for years.
- She has never told the whole story as to why she listed herself as a Native American for nine years (perhaps because she used it to get ahead at law schools that were desperate for minority professor representation at the time.)
- In 2012, she was forced to backtrack on multiple explanations for why she did it, and to this day still hasn't provided a clear answer as to what exactly happened.
- She has never provided any documentation proving she is a Native American (and most independent analysis also says there is no proof).
Here is the real story behind Warren's lies misstatements:
In 2012, Warren Admitted She Indicated Her Supposed Native American Heritage To Both Harvard And Penn Law Schools After Saying She Had No Recollection Of Doing That
May 31, 2012, Warren Admitted That She Told Harvard University And The University Of Pennsylvania About Her Native American Heritage. "Democratic Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren acknowledged for the first time late Wednesday night that she told Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania that she was Native American, but she continued to insist that race played no role in her recruitment." (Mary Carmichael and Stephanie Ebbert, "Warren Says She Told Schools Of Heritage," The Boston Globe, 5/31/12)Warren Said "At Some Point After" She Was Hired By Harvard And Penn, She "Provided That Information." "'At some point after I was hired by them, I . . . provided that information to the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard,' she said in a statement issued by her campaign. 'My Native American heritage is part of who I am, I'm proud of it and I have been open about it.'" (Mary Carmichael and Stephanie Ebbert, "Warren Says She Told Schools Of Heritage," The Boston Globe, 5/31/12)
But, Warren Repeatedly Said Previously She Didn't Know How Harvard Came To List Her As A Native American
On May 9, 2012, Warren Said She Didn't Know How Harvard Came To List Her As A Native American. "Elizabeth Warren said she doesn't know how Harvard came to list her as Native American. 'I don't know more than that,' Warren told reporters at a Brighton event hosted by Boston City Councilor John Connolly." (Fred Thys, "Warren Doesn't Know How Harvard Came To List Her As Native American," WBUR, 5/9/12)On April 27, 2012, Warren Said She Had No Recollection Of Discussing Her Native American Heritage With Harvard Before She Was Hired, And Her Background Came Out Through Later Conversations. "Warren's campaign said she has no recollection of discussing her Native American heritage with Harvard Law School faculty before her hire, and that her background came out later through conversations." (Hillary Chabot, "Harvard Trips On Roots Of Warren's Family Tree," The Boston Herald, 4/27/12)
Warren Said She Did Not "Recall" Ever Using Her Native American Heritage When Applying For A Job. "She added she does not 'recall' ever using her Native American heritage when applying for a job. 'I believe that I was recruited at Harvard because I'm a good teacher and recruited for my other jobs because I do good work,' she added." (Hillary Chabot, "Warren: I Didn't Know Harvard Law Promoted My Native American Lineage," The Boston Herald, 4/27/12)
Warren Listed Herself As A Minority Professor In A Law School Directory For Nine Years
Warren Listed Herself As A Minority Professor In Faculty Directories From 1986 Until 1995. "Despite claiming she never used her Native American heritage when applying for a job, Elizabeth Warren's campaign admitted last night the Democrat listed her minority status in professional directories for years when she taught at the University of Texas and the University of Pennsylvania. From 1986 to 1995, Warren's name is included in the Association of American Law Schools' annual directory of minority law teachers, according to records obtained by the Herald." (Chris Cassidy, "Liz Listed Self As Minority In Professional Directories," The Boston Herald, 4/30/12)Warren Was Listed As A Minority In The Directories While She Was A Professor At The University Of Texas And University Of Pennsylvania, But Ceased Listing Herself As A Minority When She Began Teaching At Harvard. "The Association of American Law Schools desk book, a directory of law professors from participating schools, includes Warren among the minority law professors listed, beginning in 1986 and continuing through 1995. The years include time she spent teaching at the University of Texas and the University of Pennsylvania, before she joined the faculty at Harvard Law." (Stephanie Ebbert, "Directories Identified Warren As Minority," The Boston Globe, 4/30/12)
Warren Initially Said She Listed Herself In The Directories To Meet "People Who Are Like I Am"
Warren Initially Said She Listed Herself As A Minority In The AALS Directory In The Hopes She Would Be Invited To A Luncheon So She Could Meet "People Who Are Like I Am," And Stopped Listing Herself When That Never Happened "Fending off questions about whether she used her Native American heritage to advance her career, Elizabeth Warren said yesterday she enrolled as a minority in law school directories for nearly a decade because she hoped to meet others with tribal roots. 'I listed myself in the directory in the hopes that it might mean that I would be invited to a luncheon, a group, something that might happen with people who are like I am,' Warren said. 'Nothing like that ever happened, that was clearly not the use for it, and so I stopped checking it off.'" (Hillary Chabot and Chris Cassidy, "Liz: I Just Wanted To Find Others Like Me," The Boston Herald, 5/3/12)
According To Politico, A 1997 Fordham Law Review Piece Cited Harvard Law School Spokesperson Mike Chmura As Saying, "Harvard Law School Hired Its First Woman Of Color, Elizabeth Warren, In 1995." "'There are few women of color who hold important positions in the academy, Fortune 500 companies, or other prominent fields or industries,' the [Fordham Law Review] piece says. 'This is not inconsequential. Diversifying these arenas, in part by adding qualified women of color to their ranks, remains important for many reasons. For one, there are scant women of color as role models. In my three years at Stanford Law School, there were no professors who were women of color. Harvard Law School hired its first woman of color, Elizabeth Warren, in 1995.' (Maggie Haberman, "Fordham Piece Called Warren Harvard Law's 'First Woman Of Color,'" Politico, 05/15/12)
Warren Was Not Listed As A Minority On Several Documents From Earlier In Her Career
A University Of Texas Personnel Document Listed Warren As "White." "In addition, a newly unearthed University of Texas personnel document shows that Warren listed herself as white when she taught at the law school there on and off from 1981 to 1991." (Noah Bierman, "Records Conflict On Warren Ethnicity," The Boston Globe, 5/11/12)
Warren Did Not Apply To Rutgers Law School In 1973 As A Minority Student. "A section of Warren s 1973 application to Rutgers, where she went to law school was more direct. That document specifically asks: Are you interested in applying for admission under the Program for Minority Group Students? Warren answered no." (Noah Bierman, "Records Conflict On Warren Ethnicity," The Boston Globe, 5/11/12)
Warren Was Not Listed As A Minority On A Portion Of Her Transcript Obtained From George Washington University, Where She Began Her Undergrad Education. "A portion of her transcript from George Washington University, where she began her undergraduate education on a debate scholarship, did not include a minority status, nor did an application to the University of Houston, which she attended after a transfer, according to records obtained by the Globe." (Noah Bierman, "Records Conflict On Warren Ethnicity," The Boston Globe, 5/11/12)
Warren Said She Claimed Native American Status Based On "Family Lore"
Warren's Campaign Said Tales Of Her Cherokee And Delaware Ancestry Have Been Passed Down Through "Family Lore." "Ms. Warren, who grew up in Oklahoma, has said that her maternal ancestors were members of the Cherokee and Delaware tribes, an assertion that she said was based on 'family lore.'" (Katharine Q. Seelye and Abby Goodnough, "Candidate For Senate Defends Past Hiring," The New York Times, 5/1/12)Warren Claimed That Being Native American Has Been Part Of Her Story "Since The Day I Was Born." "'Being Native American has been part of my story I guess since the day I was born,' said Warren, who never mentioned her Native American heritage on the campaign trail even as she detailed much of her personal history to voters in speeches, statements and a video. 'These are my family stories, I have lived in a family that has talked about Native American and talked about tribes since I was a little girl.'" (Hillary Chabot, "Warren: I Used Minority Listing To Make Friends," The Boston Herald, 5/2/12)
In Warren's 2014 Memoir, "A Fighting Chance" She Said "Everyone On Our Mother's Side…Talked Openly About Their Native American Ancestry." "Everyone on our mother's side — aunts, uncles, and grandparents — talked openly about their Native American ancestry," Warren wrote in her 2014 memoir "A Fighting Chance." "My brothers and I grew up on stories about our grandfather building one-room schoolhouses and about our grandparents' courtship and their early lives together in Indian Territory." (Adam Howard, "What's Behind Trump's 'Pocahontas' Attack On Sen. Elizabeth Warren?" MSNBC, 05/16/16)
However, Warren's Cousins, Some Who "Do Not Know Warren, Say They Know Nothing Of Native American Blood In The Family." "But other cousins, some of whom also do not know Warren, say they know nothing of Native American blood in the family." (Sally Jacobs, "Warren's Extended Family Split About Heritage," The Boston Globe, 09/16/12)
Two Of Warren's Cousins On Her Mother's Side Had "No Knowledge Of The Family Having Native American Blood" And "Never Knew" Some Believed Their Family Members Had "Indian Roots." "Hicks's father, Clyde Crawford, a first cousin to Warren's mother, said he had no knowledge of the family having Native American blood, according to Hicks. So, too, Vivian Renfrow, 99, a first cousin to Warren's mother living in Tulsa, said she never knew that her aunts Hannie and Laura married men who some believed to have Indian roots. She remembers being fearful of Indians in the years just after statehood, 'who would stop by on their horses at night and Daddy would call Mama to get the gun in case they did something, but they never did.'" (Sally Jacobs, "Warren's Extended Family Split About Heritage," The Boston Globe, 09/16/12)
Warren Failed To Produce Any Evidence Proving She Had Native American Ancestors
The Boston Herald Initially Reported That The New England Historic Genealogic Society's (NEHGS) Christopher Child Found That Warren's "Great-Great-Great Grandmother" Is Listed As Cherokee, Making Warren 1/32 Cherokee. "Desperately scrambling to validate Democrat Elizabeth Warren's Native American heritage amid questions about whether she used her minority status to further her career, the Harvard Law professor's campaign last night finally came up with what they claim is a Cherokee connection – her great-great-great grandmother. 'She would be 1/32nd of Elizabeth Warren's total ancestry,' noted genealogist Christopher Child, referring to the candidate's great-great-great grandmother, O.C. Sara Smith, who is listed on an Oklahoma marriage certificate as Cherokee. Smith is an ancestor on Warren's mother's side, Child said." (Hillary Chabot, "Lizzy's Great, Great, Great Escape; Cherokee Tie Found 5 Generations Ago," The Boston Herald, 05/01/12)
The Atlantic Reported That "It Turned Out, [The Genealogical Society] Was Referencing A Quote By An Amateur Genealogist" In A "Family History Research Newsletter About An Application For A Marriage Certificate." "But that story fell apart once people looked at it more closely. The Society, it turned out, was referencing a quote by an amateur genealogist in the March 2006 Buracker & Boraker Family History Research Newsletters about an application for a marriage certificate." (Garance Franke-Ruta, "Is Elizabeth Warren Native American Or What?" The Atlantic, 05/20/12)
New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) Then Corrected The Record Saying, "We Have No Proof That Elizabeth Warren's Great Great Great Grandmother O.C. Sara Smith Either Is Or Is Not Of Cherokee Descent." "The New England Historical Genealogical Society, which originally announced they found evidence of Elizabeth Warren's Native American heritage, said today they have discovered no documentation to back up claims that she is 1/32 Cherokee. 'NEHGS has not expressed a position on whether Mrs. Warren has Native American ancestry, nor do we possess any primary sources to prove that she is,' said Tom Champoux, spokesman for the NEHGS. 'We have no proof that Elizabeth Warren's great great great grandmother O.C. Sarah Smith either is or is not of Cherokee descent.'" (Hillary Chabot, "Genealogical Society: No Proof Of Warren's Cherokee Heritage Found," The Boston Herald, 05/15/12)
The Washington Post's Sean Sullivan Notes, Warren Has "Never Substantiated Her Claim With Documentation." "Warren claims she has Native American ancestry. She's never substantiated her claim with documentation, saying she learned of her background from her family." (Sean Sullivan, "Donald Trump Just Called Elizabeth Warren 'The Indian.' Here's What That's All About," The Washington Post, 03/21/16)
