In a recent report, Vice President Kamala Harris was exposed for alleged plagiarism in parts of her book, “Smart on Crime: A Career Prosecutor’s Plan to Make Us Safer.” Conservative commentator Christopher F. Rufo broke the news in a lengthy post on X, outlining numerous instances in which it was apparent Harris committed plagiarism. Rufo maintained that he “has the receipts.”
In the thread, Rufo highlighted various instances in which Harris’ 2009 book, which was instrumental in crafting her reputation in California’s criminal justice community before campaigning for state attorney general, appeared to have been stolen. “Kamala Harris plagiarized at least a dozen sections of her criminal-justice book, Smart on Crime, according to a new investigation. The current vice president even lifted material from Wikipedia,” Rufo began the thread.
The conservative author and journalist explained the extensive research into Harris’ work, demonstrating that her book was thoroughly analyzed for plagiarism. “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 president Claudine Gay’s doctoral thesis,” he wrote.
In particular, Rufo exposed how Harris seemingly stole large chunks of text directly from a report by the Associated Press and NBC News. “We can begin with a passage in which Harris discusses high school graduation rates. Here, she lifted verbatim language from an uncited AP/NBC News report,” he wrote.
While showing another comparison in which there is near exact language between Harris and a different source, Rufo added, “In another section of the book, Harris, without proper attribution, reproduced extensive sections from a John Jay College of Criminal Justice press release. She and her co-author passed off the language as their own, copying multiple paragraphs virtually verbatim. Here is the excerpt, with abbreviations, such as percentages and state names, treated as verbatim substitutions,”
“In a section about a New York court program, Harris stole long passages directly from Wikipedia—long considered an unreliable source. She not only assumes the online encyclopedia’s accuracy, but copies its language nearly verbatim, without citing the source. Here is Harris’s language, based on the page as it appeared in December 2008, before she published the book,” Rufo said, citing another example, in which she allegedly pulled text directly from Wikipedia, unprofessional for several reasons.
“Harris also copied language from a Bureau of Justice Assistance report report, which was linked in the the Wikipedia entry. Here is the passage in Harris’s book, with duplicated material in the other column,” Rufo continued in the thread. “Finally, when attempting to write a description of a nonprofit group, Harris simply lifted promotional language from an Urban Institute report, and failed to cite her source,” he concluded.
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Watch a video highlighting the side-by-side comparisons of Harris’ book and the sources she allegedly plagiarized:
Users on social media blasted Vice President Harris for the apparent dishonesty, drawing into question her ability to lead the nation. “Unbelievable! Kamala Harris not only plagiarized from Wikipedia but now we find out she copied entire sections from a John Jay College press release without proper attribution? This isn’t just lazy, it’s downright dishonest. How can anyone take her seriously when she can’t even write her own material?” one person commented.