Potential James Dobson Successor, Trump Adviser Tim Clinton Denies Plagiarism Allegations
Prominent Christian counselor and member of President Donald Trump's evangelical advisory board, Tim Clinton, has denied claims that he has engaged in plagiarism.
Clinton, who also serves as president of the American Association of Christian Counselors, denied the allegations of repeat plagiarism via a spokesperson named Jimmy Queen.
"Dr. Clinton has a zero tolerance policy for plagiarism," he said in a statement.
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"Over the course of more than 30 years, he has authored countless articles and dozens of books, totaling hundreds-of-thousands of pages. Some of those works have involved more of his direct involvement than others since he has often been assisted by graduate students or research associates."
Queen said that the alleged plagiarism could be explained through other issues like "posting errors via some third party partners," and a "former employee whose work did not meet our quality standards."
"He would like to thank those who have brought these editorial oversights to our attention. They will be addressed," Queen assured.
Last week, Grove City College psychology professor Warren Throckmorton posted a blog entry accusing Clinton of engaging in academic misconduct, including apparent examples of plagiarism.
One example given involved comparing an Aug. 7 article posted by Clinton on Medium about the 1980 USA Hockey team and a St. Petersburg Times article by Bruce Lowitt. Throckmorton posted a few comparable passages between the two pieces, including the following:
Lowitt: The Soviets unleashed 30 shots in the first two periods to the United States' 10. Only one dramatic save after another by former Boston University goaltender Jim Craig kept the United States close.
Clinton: The Soviets unleashed 30 shots in the first two periods to the United States' 10. One dramatic save after another by goaltender Jim Craig kept the U.S. team close.
Lowitt: The explosion of cheers was deafening, and most of the 10,000 fans squeezed into the 8,500-seat arena began a chant of 'USA! USA!' that never abated in the final 10 minutes.
Clinton: The explosion of cheers was deafening, and most of the 10,000 fans began a chant of 'USA! USA!' that did not end for the final 10 minutes.
In updates added to his original blog entry, Throckmorton noted that many of the various articles he cited as examples of potential plagiarism had been removed.
"Since I posted this information, Dr. Clinton or someone acting for him has deleted most of the articles referred to below. Archived copies of those articles exist and I have added links," wrote Throckmorton in an Aug. 10 update.
In addition to being president of AACC and a Trump adviser, Clinton is also considered a potential successor to Family Talk radio host Dr. James Dobson.
In May, Clinton was added to Family Talk's ministry executive team, with the possibility implied that in the near future he might replace Dobson.
"Although I am in excellent health, wisdom would dictate that we bring an associate into the ministry to serve as a backup and possible successor to serve in unforeseen circumstances. Family Talk is growing rapidly and the response by the Christian public has been very gratifying," Dobson said earlier this year.
"This is why we are extremely pleased by the addition of Dr. Tim Clinton, and we are very optimistic about the future of this outreach."
