Figure in McInnis plagiarism case says ‘Scott’s responsible’

Rolly Fischer, the man Republican gubernatorial hopeful Scott McInnis says is responsible for plagiarizing water papers written by Colorado Supreme Court Justice Gregory J. Hobbs, told the Glenwood Springs Post Independent Tuesday that “Scott’s responsible for it.”

That was all he told the Glenwood paper. The Colorado Independent got voice mail at the former Colorado River Water Conservation engineer’s home Tuesday evening.

The Hasan Family Foundation, which paid former congressman McInnis $300,000 for a series of water articles and other duties as a fellow, issued this statement today:

“The Hasan Family Foundation takes the issue of plagiarism extremely seriously. All his work was represented to be original and final. We will conduct an independent, internal investigation and if the allegations are proven true, we will demand Mr. McInnis return all monies paid to him by the Foundation.”

The Denver Post first broke the story of McInnis’s alleged plagiarism Tuesday but reported it was unable to contact Fischer.

Scot Kersgaard has been managing editor of a political newspaper, editor and co-owner of a ski town newspaper, executive editor of eight high-tech magazines (where he worked with current Apple CEO Tim Cook), deputy press secretary to a U.S. Senator, and an outdoors columnist at the Rocky Mountain News. He has an English degree from the University of Washington. He was awarded a fellowship to study internet journalism at the University of Maryland's Knight Center for Specialized Journalism. He was student body president in college. He spends his free time hiking and skiing.

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