One of President Bush’s aides in charge with reaching out to conservative and Christian groups forwarded his resignation after he had admitted having plagiarized some material for a column that he wrote for Fort Wayne News-Sentinel.

Special assistant Tim Goeglein acknowledged that he had used material from an essay about college education written by former Dartmouth professor Jeffrey L. Hart, and passed it as his own in a guest column Thursday for the above mentioned newspaper, the Washington Post reports.

“Today, Tim accepted responsibility for the columns published under his name in his local newspaper, and has apologized for not upholding the standards expected by the President," White House press secretary Dana Perino said in a statement. “The President was disappointed to learn of the matter, and he was saddened for Tim and his family. He has long appreciated Tim's service, and he knows him to be a good person who is committed to his country.”

His plagiarism was disclosed by a Michigan-based blogger, Nancy Nall, a former columnist for the News-Sentinel.

Her discovery prompted more plagiarism allegations against Goeglein, who notified the situation to the White House officials and said he would resign.

Goeglein had been collaborating with the News-Sentinel for 20 years, and during this time he had written 80 or 90 columns, News-Sentinel Editor Kerry Hubartt notes. The newspaper informed on his website that 20 of 38 columns written by Goeglein between 2000 and 2008 contained “portions copied from other sources without attribution.”  

Hubbart says that Goeglein’s plagiarized Washington Post book critic Jonathan Yardley, Wall Street Journal Deputy Editor George Melloan and New York Times reporter James Sterngold. The News-Sentinel newspaper announced in an article posted on its web site by Hubbart, that “we will not publish writings by Goeglein in the future.”

Tim Goeglein, 44, had worked for President Bush since 2001 as a special assistant to Bush and deputy director of the Office of Public Liaison, representing a liaison to the social and religious groups. He was the right hand for former strategist Karl Rove.

Goeglein sent an e-mail to professor Hart apologizing for his actions: “There are no excuses. I am entirely at fault, and you have my sincerest apology. I pray you will forgive me,” former presidential aide wrote.