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March 7, 2017

White House Statement Lifts Paragraph from ExxonMobil Press Release
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On Monday, the White House issued a statement on Exxon Mobil that
includes an entire paragraph lifted from an Exxon Mobil press release
issued less than an hour earlier. The paragraph, which celebrates Exxon
Mobil's investments in new oil refineries and chemical manufacturing
projects, was first noticed by a Washington Post reporter who posted the
side-by-side comparison on Twitter. The Exxon Mobil press release was
issued at 3:10 p.m., and the White House statement was sent to reporters
at 3:44 p.m. Besides small copy editing changes, the paragraphs differ
by only one word: The Exxon Mobil release calls its project the "Growing
the Gulf expansion program," while the White House statement calls it
the "Growing the Gulf program." The final sentence of the White House
statement is also nearly identical to one in the Exxon Mobil release,
which claims the projects will create "many more jobs." Longtime Exxon
Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson is now secretary of state.


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