- The Washington Times - Monday, October 15, 2018

Sen. Elizabeth Warren publicly released DNA test results Monday that support her claims of Native American heritage.

The test was analyzed by Stanford University professor Carlos Bustamante, who teaches a course on Biomedical Data Science.

It concluded there was “strong evidence” that Ms. Warren, Massachusetts Democrat, has Native American DNA.

“While the vast majority of the individual’s ancestry is European, the results strongly support the existence of an unadmixed Native American Ancestor,” the report read.

The results were first given to The Boston Globe on Sunday, before being publicly released Monday morning.

After correcting its initial math, The Globe calculated that — at best — if her great-great-great-grandmother was Native American, then Ms. Warren would have 1/32, about 3 percent, native DNA.

However, if the ancestor was indeed 10 generations back, Ms. Warren would only be 1/1024 Native American — .09 percent.

Ms. Warren’s heritage became an often-hit talking point for President Trump, who dubbed her “Pocahontas.” In July, Mr. Trump challenged the Massachusetts senator to take a DNA test in order to prove her claims.

Just on Friday, Mr. Trump renewed his criticism of Ms. Warren during a Fox News interview saying, “I have more Indian blood than she does, and I have none, unfortunately.”

The Massachusetts senator and potential 2020 candidate reminded the president of his comments Monday and called on him to donate $1 million to charity.

She also demanded that he release his tax returns.

“What are YOU hiding, [Mr. Trump]?” she tweeted.

Ms. Warren released a new ad and “fact squad” website centered on her DNA results.

The five-minute video depicts Ms. Warren’s family recounting their history and reacting to Mr. Trump’s comments. It also emphasizes Ms. Warren’s claim that she never used her Native American heritage to get a job.

“The first Native American in our family that can be proved is generations back, and the geneticist says there could be others,” Ms. Warren wrote in a campaign email. “No matter. It’s my family, and — like it or not Donald Trump — my family’s stories are supported by this test.”

Ms. Warren’s ancestry became a political point of contention in 2012, and renewed by Mr. Trump after reports surfaced that suggested she listed herself as Native American while working for law schools, but it couldn’t be supported.

The senator has denied the allegations repeatedly and worked with native groups while touting her commitment to the identity. In February, she spoke at the National Conference of American Indians summit to reaffirm her family’s story, despite noting they were not enrolled with a tribe.

• Gabriella Muñoz can be reached at gmunoz@washingtontimes.com.

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