The 2024 presidential race is heating up, and a fresh wave of controversy has hit Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign. An Austrian professor, dubbed a ‘plagiarism hunter,’ has accused Harris of lifting passages from various sources in her 2009 book, ‘Smart on Crime: A Career Prosecutor’s Plan to Make Us Safer,’ written while she was San Francisco’s District Attorney.
The professor, Stefan Weber, alleges that Harris and her co-author, Joan O’C Hamilton, plagiarized from 27 different sources, including books, articles, and even a Wikipedia page. He claims that ’24 fragments are plagiarism from other authors, [and] 3 fragments are self-plagiarism from a work written with a co-author.’
Conservative activist Christopher Rufo, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, first brought these allegations to light, highlighting several instances where entire sentences and phrases appear to have been lifted without proper attribution.
Fox News Digital independently verified Rufo’s claims, confirming that verbatim and near-verbatim reproductions of text were indeed present in Harris’ book. One example points to a 2007 press release from John Jay College of Criminal Justice, where a paragraph describing the ‘High Point’ crime reduction strategy mirrors almost word for word a section in Harris’ book. Another instance involves a 2000 report by the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) on poverty and crime in West Palm Beach, Florida. Harris and her co-author appear to have borrowed extensively from this report, using similar language and describing the community’s challenges in almost identical terms.
The accusations have fueled criticism from Republicans, who are seizing on the issue to question Harris’ integrity and credibility. Meanwhile, Harris’ campaign and the White House have yet to issue a statement on the allegations.
With the election less than a month away, these accusations come at a crucial time for the Democratic nominee. The closeness of the race in key swing states has heightened the significance of every issue and every allegation. The public will now be watching closely to see how Harris responds to this growing controversy and whether it will affect her standing with voters.