Kamala Harris Campaign Defends Against Plagiarism Claims

Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris is facing plagiarism allegations regarding her 2009 book, "Smart on Crime: A Career Prosecutor’s Plan to Make Us Safer," which conservative activist Christopher Rufo claims contains at least a dozen sections lifted from other sources without proper citation. Harris' campaign has dismissed these accusations as politically motivated attacks from right-wing operatives, asserting that the book's citations are adequately noted in footnotes. Plagiarism experts have weighed in, noting that while some citations were insufficiently formatted, such as failing to use quotation marks, the errors do not amount to intentional plagiarism. Jonathan Bailey, a plagiarism consultant, described the writing as 'sloppy' but not indicative of malicious intent. The allegations involve about 500 words from a 66,500-word text, and Harris' team emphasizes that the book has been publicly available for over 15 years. The controversy arises as Harris builds a bipartisan support coalition ahead of the upcoming election, with her campaign asserting that the criticism is a diversionary tactic.