Kamala Harris' Publisher in 'Damage Control Mode,' Accidentally Leaks Internal Message About Plagiarism Scandal: Report

The publisher of a 2009 book co-authored by current Vice President Kamala Harris, which has been cited for plagiarism, is now in "damage control mode," according to a conservative activist who brought the plagiarism allegations to light on social media.

On Monday, conservative activist Christopher Rufo shared sections of Smart on Crime: A Career Prosecutor’s Plan to Make Us Safer, a book co-authored by Harris and Joan O’C. Hamilton, using the excerpts to highlight what he claims are instances of plagiarism.

In total, Austrian academic Stefan Weber uncovered 27 instances of plagiarism, according to a report by Fox News.

This discovery has left Chronicle Books, the publisher of the work, "in a tizzy," Rufo noted in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

“Kamala Harris’s publisher, Chronicle Books, is in damage control mode,” Rufo reiterated.

“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.”

Along with his post, Rufo shared a screenshot that appeared to be an internal message.

“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 read.

The Harris campaign dismissed the accusations.

“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,” stated James Singer, a campaign spokesperson, as reported by The New York Times.

The Times also offered its own assessment: “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.”

In response, Rufo posted another example of alleged 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.

Referencing a well-known quote from Soviet dissident Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Rufo sharply criticized the reaction to the controversy.

“Paraphrasing Solzhenitsyn: They know Kamala lied,” he wrote in another 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.”