Oklahoma native dubbed 'Fake Melania' seen outside Trump arraignment
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
Fox News misidentified a woman as Donald Trump's wife, Melania Trump, during coverage of his arraignment in Miami, Florida Tuesday. The woman was actually an Oklahoma native and Trump campaign official.
The former president pleaded not guilty to the 37 federal charges that alleged he willfully kept classified documents after he left the White House and refused to return them. They included:
31 counts of willful retention of national defense information under the Espionage Act
One count of conspiracy to obstruct justice
One count of withholding a document or record
One count of corruptly concealing a document in a federal investigation
One count of concealing a document in a federal investigation
One count of scheming to conceal
One count of making false statements and representations for allegedly causing his lawyer to certify that all classified documents had been turned over to federal authorities on June 3
The Oklahoma native, Margo Martin, was dubbed by many on Twitter as "Fake Melania" even after Fox News corrected their error during their broadcast. Here's what we know about her Oklahoma and Trump ties.
Minutes after reporting that Melania Trump had arrived at the Miami courthouse for her husband's arraignment, Fox News anchor John Roberts issues a correction.
"It's easy from a distance to mistake two people"
Roberts then reports it was actually Trump assistant Margo Martin. pic.twitter.com/Ya6rjk98OP— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) June 13, 2023
Margo Martin works for Trump's 2024 campaign
Martin previously worked as a former deputy director of communications for Trump's Save America PAC.
She is among a small group of former White House advisers who have remained employed by Trump after he left office, and she now works on his 2024 campaign.
Margo Martin caught up in Trump recordings trouble
Martin has worked for Trump since his days in the White House and was the press aide to call the final lid on his presidency on January 19, 2021.
She may also be caught up in his latest legal troubles.
At least two dozen people – from Mar-a-Lago resort staff to members of Donald Trump’s inner circle at the Florida estate – have been subpoenaed to testify to a federal grand jury that’s investigating the former president’s handling of classified documents.
CNN reported that Martin was present at a July 2021 meeting where prosecutors allege Trump waved around a classified battle plan in front of an author and publisher. Audio of the meeting — where prosecutors say Trump told his visitors "This is secret information. Look, look at this." — was turned over to federal investigators by an unnamed source.
In March, Trump’s communications aide Margo Martin, who worked in the White House and then moved with Trump to Florida, appeared before the grand jury in Washington, DC.
CNN's reporting about the Trump tape identifies only one of the meeting's participants by name. She is the woman pictured here, Trump communications aide Margo Martin, who, at least as of March, remained in his employ. 1/https://t.co/XVzKexr1Io pic.twitter.com/Xa3NgcpYKD
— Lisa Rubin (@lawofruby) May 31, 2023
Margo Martin is sister of Markie Martin, former KOCO anchor
Margo Martin is the younger sibling of Markie Martin, who was the weekday morning show anchor for KOCO 5 News (ABC) in Oklahoma City from 2014 to 2020.
The sisters grew up in Ada, Oklahoma, in the southern part of the state.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Margo Martin: Trump aide dubbed 'Fake Melania' seen at arraignment