NASA PR Officer: Follow-Up

George Deutsch, 24, was given a job as a PR officer at NASA after having worked on Bush's 2004 Presidential Campaign. He recently courted controversy when he emailed NASA scientists that "The theory that the universe was created by a 'big bang' is just that - a theory. It is not proven fact; it is opinion. Yes, the scientific community by and large may share this opinion, but that doesn't make it correct . . . It is not Nasa's place, nor should it be, to make a declaration such as this about the existence of the universe that discounts intelligent design by a creator" (emphasis added).

He was also accused of "tr[ying] to keep the agency's top climate scientist from speaking publicly about global warming." The New York Times reported that he defended himself by saying that "the scientist, James E. Hansen, exaggerated the threat of warming and tried to cast the Bush administration's response to it as inadequate."

The Times also reported that "Leslie McCarthy, a public affairs officer who told The Times of several conversations in which Mr. Deutsch said his job was to 'make the president look good.'"

Further, Texas A&M reported that while Mr. Deutsch did in fact attend their university, he never received any degree from there, as he had contended in his resume. He defended himself saying that he wrote that he had the degree because he had anticipated graduating.

Deutsch has resigned from his post at NASA.