The publisher of a 2009 book by now-Vice President Kamala Harris that has been cited for plagiarism is in “damage control mode,” according to a conservative activist who publicized the plagiarism on social media.
On Monday, conservative activist Christopher Rufo posted excerpts of “Smart on Crime: A Career Prosecutor’s Plan to Make Us Safer,” that was co-authored with Joan O’C Hamilton. Rufo used the excerpts to document instances of plagiarism.
All told, Austrian professor Stefan Weber, found 27 instances of plagiarism, according to Fox News.
All of which has Chronicle Books, which published the book, in a tizzy, Rufo wrote in a post on X.
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
“Kamala Harris’s publisher, Chronicle Books, is in damage control mode,” Rufo wrote.
“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.”
Rufo attached a screenshot to the post
Do you think Kamala Harris is guilty of plagiarism?
“Hey Sarah, Per Lauren Hoffman (VP, Executive Director, marketing and publicity) please do not respond or comment on any inquiries regarding SMART ON CRIME, and please continue to forward them directly to me. Really appreciate your help on this it is a very sensitive topic,” the screenshot said.
The Harris campaign downplayed the allegations.
“This is a book that’s been out for 15 years, and the vice president clearly cited sources and statistics in footnotes and endnotes throughout,” James Singer, a campaign spokesman said, according to The New York Times.
The Times also issued its own conclusion: “The New York Times found that none of the passages in question took the ideas or thoughts of another writer, which is considered the most serious form of plagiarism. Instead, the sentences copy descriptions of programs or statistical information that appear elsewhere.”
EXCLUSIVE: This is another instance of verbatim plagiarism by Kamala Harris, which we had provided to the New York Times over the weekend—and which the Times refused to acknowledge in its report today.
This makes six significant instances. And we have more in reserve. pic.twitter.com/DULCaoyYSP
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) October 14, 2024
That led Rufo to post yet another example of plagiarism on X.
“This is another instance of verbatim plagiarism by Kamala Harris, which we had provided to the New York Times over the weekend—and which the Times refused to acknowledge in its report today. This makes six significant instances. And we have more in reserve,” he wrote.
Paraphrasing Solzhenitsyn: They know Kamala lied. They know that we know Kamala lied. In America, plagiarism has become a moral pillar of the regime—and they will slander anyone who notices.
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) October 14, 2024
Invoking a famous quote from the Soviet dissident Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Rufo delivered a scathing judgment of the reaction to the Harris scandal.
“Paraphrasing Solzhenitsyn: They know Kamala lied,” he wrote in a post on X. “They know that we know Kamala lied. In America, plagiarism has become a moral pillar of the regime — and they will slander anyone who notices.”
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