Who Is Mina Chang? Meet The Trump Staffer Caught In A Web Of Resume Lies

While President Donald Trump is known for his perceived loose relationship with the truth, one of his staffers has recently found herself embroiled in an assortment of lies and exaggerations.

Mina Chang, the deputy assistant secretary for the State Department’s Bureau of Conflict and Stability Operations, was recently found to have falsified aspects of her resume and to have gone to bizarre lengths to inflate her professional background.

The Trump administration reportedly sought to nominate Chang to lead the U.S. Agency for International Development's (USAID) work in Asia. Congress is currently investigating Chang’s qualifications for office.

An NBC News investigation revealed that Chang did such things as tout a Harvard education – it was actually a seven-week course in 2016 – and peddled her face on a photoshopped cover of Time Magazine. She also falsely claimed to have served on a nonexistent United Nations panel, addressed both the Republican and Democratic National Conventions, and testified to Congress.

Chang currently earns a six-figure salary at a department with a $6 million budget. Had she received the new position as a senior position at U.S. Agency for International Development, she would have been in charge of a budget of roughly $1 billion.

Aside from her falsified background, Chang also appeared to have significant connections to key figures in the Trump administration. Under Secretary of State for Management Brian Bulatao, a key figure in the State Department and friend of Mike Pompeo, once reportedly attended a fundraiser hosted by Linking the World, a nonprofit organization run by Chang, and made a $5,500 donation.

The Linkedin page for Linking the World does not open and states "this page is not available." It also is not listed on any NGO database.

The fake Time cover can be seen in a video Chang made for her nonprofit in 2017. A representative for Time has since confirmed that the cover is not real. In June 2017, Time asked that framed fake covers of Trump be removed from the walls of his golf clubs.

There is unconfirmed information about Chang's personal life. A search shows she is Korean-American, was born in 1984 and has a daughter named Trinity. She is married to Jake Harriman, CEO and founder of Nuru International, a nonprofit founded in 2008 that seeks to end poverty in Kenya and Ethiopia. Chang and Harriman appeared together on a panel in March 2017 at the Future of War Conference and have a picture on Instagram of them visiting the grave of Sen. John McCain.

International Business Times called Nuru International's office in Irvine, California, on Wednesday afternoon. On multiple attempts, there was either no response or the line appeared to be disconnected.

A profile in June 2014 by the Dallas Observer reports Chang, who is described as once having "a flourishing career as an international pop singer," is the child of two Salvation Army officers. It also notes: "Chang has the vibe, and the resume, of someone much older."

One report said she was born in Dallas. A profile in AsiaSociety.org stated Chang was brought up in inner-city Atlanta and that she grew up homeless. It also states she was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2014.

Chang has not commented on the NBC report.