Kamala Harris faces more allegations of plagiarism after book bombshell
New plagiarism accusations have surfaced against Vice President Kamala Harris for testimony she delivered as a U.
New plagiarism accusations have surfaced against Vice President Kamala Harris for testimony she delivered as a U.S. senator.
Harris allegedly lifted text verbatim from a former colleague for use in written congressional testimony she gave in 2007, according to an analysis by the Washington Free Beacon.
Harris testified in support of the John R. Justice Prosecutors and Defenders Incentive Act of 2007, a bill that would help pay student loans for state and federal prosecutors to keep talented lawyers in the profession.
Harris interest in the proposal was personal, as she spent her early years as a career prosecutor before she ran for political office.
But her written statement in support of the proposal sent to the House Judiciary Committee was not tailored to her own experience.
It rather reflected nearly verbatim text sent by District Attorney Paul Logli of Winnebago County, Illinois, a Republican, in support of the bill.
Democratic presidential nominee, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris fields questions during a town hall style campaign event with former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney
Of the 1,500 words in the testimony, eighty percent were exactly the same as Loglis submission, according to the Free Beacon analysis.
It is unclear whether both political figures were using the same source text to write their testimony, although it is highly likely the product of a sloppy or lazy staff work.
Plagiarism accusations can derail a political campaign, if the candidate is found guilty of intentionally copying other politician for dramatic effect without doing the work.
Bidens first presidential campaign in 1987 was derailed by plagiarism accusations after he appeared to be copying phrases and mannerisms from a British Labour Party politician. He was also accused of plagiarism in law school.
The new plagiarism report places new emphasis on Harris use of other peoples work, as she was found to have plagiarized several blocks of text in her book Smart on Crime that she published with co-author Joan OC Hamilton.
The allegations were uncovered by author and activist Christopher Russo, who published details of passages in question earlier in October.
The cover of Kamala Harris first book Smart on Crime published in 2009
The report revealed that Harris copied verbatim content from Wikipedia, Goodwill Industries, her partner on her Back on Track crime program, and other online sources.
The Harris campaign did not return a request for comment.
The report shows that Harris lifted an entire section of text from an Associated Press story published in April 2008 about low graduation rates.
In another section of the book, Harris included extensive sections from a John Jay College of Criminal Justice press release nearly verbatim without attribution.
The plagiarism hunter made a side-by-side comparison, showing Harris lifted part of her book from Wikipedia without properly citing the online encyclopedia as her source.
Another example includes language copied directly from a Bureau of Justice Assistance report on crime statistics of West Palm Beach.
They not only lifted material from sources without proper attribution, but in at least one case, relied on a low-quality source, which potentially undermined the accuracy of their conclusion, Rufo wrote.
Rufo said that Harris and her publisher should retract the plagiarized passages from her book and issue a correction.
There is nothing smart about plagiarism, which is the equivalent of an academic crime, he concluded.
