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State Department deputy resigns after report questions resume

By Clyde Hughes

Nov. 19 (UPI) -- Mina Chang, a deputy assistant secretary in State Department, resigned from her post Monday following controversy about claims she embellished her resume.

Chang, who served in the department's Bureau of Conflict and Stability Operations, submitted her resignation to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo after a report by NBC News questioned the credentials on her resume -- which included a shot of her on the cover of Time magazine.

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Chang, who'd been in the position since April, was in charge of leading efforts to prevent conflicts in politically unstable countries. The post requires a top secret security clearance.

NBC News reported that her previous listed job as CEO of a nonprofit, which she said built schools overseas, could not be verified through tax filings and other documents.

Chang touted the Time magazine cover in a 2017 YouTube video promoting her work and said she was part of a United Nations panel on drones and humanitarian relief. Time acknowledged the cover was not authentic.

NBC News said Chang indicated she graduated from Harvard Business School and Army War College, but had only attended a course and seminar at the schools. The report also said she erroneously claimed to have spoken at the Democratic and Republican conventions in 2016.

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In her resignation letter, Chang said she was never given an opportunity to respond to the NBC report.

"It is disappointing that I have never been afforded the opportunity, or any due process whatsoever, to respond to the allegations levied against me," Chang wrote in the letter to Pompeo. "A character assassination based solely on innuendo was launched against me attacking my credentials and character."

"Despite answering every question put to me by a reporter and offering a detailed rebuttal, my superiors at the department refused to defend me, stand up for the truth or allow me to answer the false charges against me," she added.

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