The ramifications of Mary Trump’s book are already rippling across the country.

One of the least shocking, but most damning, revelations in Mary Trump’s book is that Donald Trump paid a fellow classmate to take the SAT test for him to get a high enough score to go to an elite school, something fairly easy back then.

The test-taker’s name is Joe Shapiro, who went on to graduate from Penn and Harvard Law school. He was an executive for Disney under Michael Eisner. Unfortunately, Shapiro passed away twenty years ago.

Paging Joe Shapiro. On p. 72 of her new book, Mary Trump says Donald Trump paid Shapiro — “a smart kid with a reputation for being a good test taker” — to sit in for him during the SAT tests so he could get into Wharton. Donald “paid his buddy well,” Mary writes. pic.twitter.com/nqmHajVFwP

— Tim O'Brien (@TimOBrien) July 7, 2020

But that doesn’t mean that an enterprising newspaper or private investigator can’t dig up evidence that supports the assertion. Perhaps Mary Trump has other evidence, perhaps others know. If so, under a new rule, Penn could revoke Trump’s degree.

According to Rawstory:

“Penn’s new policy details the investigation process after potential misconduct is discovered,” the college paper reported. “An investigation can be launched if information is found that confirms or suggests wrongdoing in the process of obtaining the degree. Graduates will have the option to come to an agreement to possibly voluntarily give up the degree, or a formal investigation and hearing will be launched.

An assertion by a family member would certainly “suggest” that the degree was obtained through wrongdoing. If an investigation were to be launched, Trump might have to speak up, or if he refuses to speak to Penn, his refusal could possibly be used against him. Despite its name, Penn isn’t a public school.

“After the launch of the investigation, the graduate in question will be notified in writing of the investigation and the information used to make the decision. The information from the investigation will be summarized and given to the dean of the school that conferred the degree, who will make the final decision on whether to move forward into a hearing,” the report continued.

How very interesting. One thing to note, Penn has done absolutely nothing to advertise its association with Trump, when normally a school would be bursting with advertising that they are the president’s alma mater. They seem a bit embarrassed and haven’t published anything about Trump’s time there. Maybe they would love to disassociate themselves with Trump. Maybe they don’t want the trouble.

We will see what happens, but if it’s proven that Trump paid someone to take his SATs, it seems difficult to imagine a way that Penn wouldn’t at least open an investigation, which would be humiliating enough. We know that Trump refuses to give evidence over to Congress, he would likely ignore an investigation … interesting.

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Peace, y’all
Jason
[email protected] and on Twitter @MiciakZoom