A new controversy has hit Vice President Kamala Harris as her 2009 book, Smart on Crime: A Career Prosecutor’s Plan to Make Us Safer, faces allegations of plagiarism. The claims were brought to light by conservative activist Christopher F. Rufo, who published a detailed report on Monday outlining several instances where Harris lifted material from a variety of sources without proper attribution. Today, a leak from the publisher only made matters worse.

On Tuesday, Austrian professor Stefan Weber, a renowned “plagiarism hunter” told Fox News that Harris and her co-author, Joan O’C Hamilton, committed plagiarism 27 separate times in the book. These allegations have now thrust Harris and her publisher, Chronicle Books, into full damage control mode as the Vice President campaigns for the 2024 presidential election.

The investigation was conducted by Dr. Stefan Weber, a famed Austrian "plagiarism hunter" who has taken down politicians in the German-speaking world. We independently confirmed multiple violations, which are comparable in severity to the plagiarism found in former Harvard… pic.twitter.com/P9DTpZS4kV

— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) October 14, 2024

According to Rufo and confirmed by multiple news outlets, Harris lifted material from a variety of sources without proper attribution, ranging from news reports and government publications to even Wikipedia. This follows Rufo’s initial report, which detailed several instances where Harris allegedly copied content, including statistics and descriptions of criminal justice programs. Among the most significant examples is Harris’s use of a press release from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice to describe a drug prevention strategy in High Point, North Carolina. According to Weber and Rufo, entire paragraphs from the press release were inserted into Harris’s book without giving credit to the original authors.

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Weber’s report aligns with Rufo’s own findings, where Harris also copied significant portions of text discussing high school graduation rates directly from an uncited NBC News report.

While conservative outlets like Fox News have been quick to highlight the extent of the plagiarism, even left-leaning outlets have had to acknowledge that the accusations hold water. CNN reviewed several passages flagged by Rufo and found that Harris had indeed failed to properly attribute language from several sources. CNN’s analysis noted that Harris and her co-author lifted portions of government reports and press releases, often reproducing them verbatim without proper citation. The network admitted that the Vice President’s book fell short of accepted standards of citation, especially for someone in a position of public trust. The Harris campaign has stated the VP “clearly cited sources and statistics in footnotes and endnotes throughout” her book.

Despite this, The New York Times downplayed the severity of the situation. In their review, the outlet attempted to soften the blow by noting that the plagiarized sections involved statistical descriptions and public data rather than more significant intellectual property theft. According to The Times, Harris did not steal ideas or creative works, but rather failed to attribute descriptions of programs and initiatives, which the paper described as less serious than other forms of plagiarism.

The New York Times is lying about my plagiarism story and I have the receipts to prove it:

1. The Times claims that I only argued that Kamala Harris plagiarized "five sections" involving "about 500 words." But this isn't true. In my story, I wrote that Stefan Weber argued there… pic.twitter.com/gAyPdbwZIn

— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) October 14, 2024

Adding to the controversy was a leaked internal email from Chronicle Books, Harris’s publisher. Rufo shared the email, which was accidentally sent to him. In it, a senior official at Chronicle Books instructed staff not to respond to any inquiries regarding the plagiarism allegations, calling it a “very sensitive topic.”

“Please do not respond or comment on any inquiries regarding SMART ON CRIME, and please continue to forward them directly to me,” the internal email read. “Really appreciate your help on this it is a very sensitive topic.” The email was reportedly sent by Lauren Hoffman, Chronicle Books’ Vice President and Executive Director of Marketing and Publicity, who directed all communications on the matter to be forwarded to higher-ups.

BREAKING: Kamala Harris's publisher, Chronicle Books, is in damage control mode. The company accidentally sent my team an internal communication indicating that VP Lauren Hoffman is requiring that all inquiries about Harris's plagiarism go through the higher ups. pic.twitter.com/seiF3bu0R2

— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) October 14, 2024

For Harris, the timing of the scandal could not be worse as she faces the final weeks of a tight 2024 election.

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