The Trump Organization employee who wrote Melania Trump’s convention speech last month that lifted portions of Michelle Obama's 2008 remarks was paid $356.01 for her services.
Meredith McIver received the funds from the Trump campaign on July 23, five days after Melania Trump's speech, according to Federal Election Commission data reported by Mother Jones magazine.
The payment marked the only funds made to McIver from the campaign, according to the report. The disclosure did indicate what the payment was for.
Melania Trump, wife of GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump, spoke on the first night of the Republican National Convention at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.
Her speech included remarks from Obama's speech at the Democratic National Convention.
The speech immediately came under fire for plagiarism — and McIver said in a statement that Trump had rejected her offer to resign the day after Melania's remarks.
McIver said Melania Trump read her some of Obama's lines over the phone as inspiration during the writing process.
"I wrote them down and later included some of the phrasing in the draft that ultimately became the final speech," McIver wrote in her statement two days after the speech.
"I did not check Mrs. Obama's speeches," she added. "This was my mistake, and I feel terrible for the chaos I have caused Melania and the Trumps, as well as to Mrs. Obama.
"No harm was meant."
A Trump campaign spokeswoman declined to comment on McIver's payment, The Wall Street Journal reports.
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