The saga continues: is she or is she not a Native American?
According to Massachusetts Republican Sen. Scott Brown’s campaign, there has been no compelling evidence to prove his Democratic Senate opponent Elizabeth Warren is even 1/32 Cherokee — as she continues to tout — and Warren must be held to account for her claims.
In a conference call with reporters, Jim Barnett, Brown’s campaign manager, weighed in on the Warren ancestry controversy. He pointed out that based on primary source material there is no evidence that Warren can claim any Native American ancestry.
Barnett reiterated Brown’s call for Warren to release her complete personnel records — especially from the institutions where she listed herself as a minority. Barnett pointed out that Brown has already released 32 years worth of personnel files from his service in the National Guard and noted that there have been no questions about his academic records but added that Brown would be happy to release his.
According to the Brown campaign, Warren’s inconsistency on her heritage creates questions about her integrity and willingness to be transparent.
New developments in the case have made the call for Warren to provide her records more critical, Barnett explained.
He pointed to the fact that documents from her time at Rutgers University, the University of Houston, and the University of Texas show that Warren self-identified as “white” but that she has not explained why she listed herself as a minority later at the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard University — nor have the universities.
Barnett added that the claim Warren is even 1/32 Native American has been “completely debunked.”
“As it turned out, contrary to their initial public suggestions, the New England Historic Genealogical Society relied not on primary source materials, but on a family newsletter that included speculation that a marriage application existed showing there could have been a Cherokee five generations removed from Warren,” he said. “However, the actual primary source materials from the custodian of those records shows definitively that the great-great-great grandmother in question was actually white.”
New England Historic Genealogical Society, Barnett added, has stopped responding to inquiries about the analysis.
“There is exactly zero evidence that Warren has any Native American ancestry whatsoever,” Barnett said. “Multiple genealogists have substantiated this and I hope future reporting reflects this fact.”
Brown’s campaign manager cited the recent ouster of Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson for padding his resume as an example of an individual being held to account for misrepresenting their personal history.
“Professor Warren, aided by a wall of silence from Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania with an assist from the New England Historic Genealogical Society, is not being held accountable and made to answer the many swirling questions about how she came to be listed as a minority and what were her motivations for listing herself that way,” Barnett said.
Barnett brushed off the Massachusetts Democratic Party’s call for Brown to release the names of his New York City Finance Committee members, which held a fundraising event over the weekend, as a distraction and pointed out that Brown follows all the FEC’s required disclosure rules. He noted that all Brown’s donor information is available on FEC reports.
Monday, in an appearance on CNN’s “Starting Point,” Warren doubled down on her Native American claims.
“You know, I’m proud of my Native American heritage,” Warren said. “I’m proud of my family. It’s now the case that people have gone over my college records, my law school records, every job I’ve ever had to see that I got my work. I got my jobs because I do my work. I work hard. I’ve been a good teacher.”
Despite her claim, the Brown campaign is not buying it.
“Warren has zero evidence that she is at all Native American,” Barnett reiterated.
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