A Trump Organization staff writer says she made a "mistake" in including passages from a Michelle Obama speech in Melania Trump's convention speech.
Meredith McIver says she offered her resignation, but Donald Trump rejected it.
McIver explained her role in the Trump plagiarism controversy in a statement issued Wednesday.
McIver says Mrs. Trump read passages of Mrs. Obama's 2008 convention speech during the writing the process. She says her notes from that conversation made it into the final version.
She says she feels terrible for the "chaos" she caused.
The Trump campaign has said denied accusations of plagiarism, saying the similarities were coincidence.
Meanwhile, White House spokesman Josh Earnest says that passages incorporated into Melania Trump's convention speech from Michelle Obama's convention speech in 2008 shows that Americans admire similar values in their political leaders.
Earnest says that admiring the same values shows the nation isn't as divided as it may seem. That's a point made recently by President Barack Obama.
Earnest says Mrs. Obama's speech in 2008 drew widespread praise. He says "I'm confident in the future, aspiring first ladies or potential first husbands will draw on the same kind of sentiments to advocate for their spouse."
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