NYT Plagiarism Expert Admits Harris’s ‘Plagiarism Scandal’ Is ‘More Serious’ than He Previously Stated

By Wendell Husebø

Vice President Kamala Harris’s “plagiarism scandal” is far “more serious” than previously stated, New York Times‘s plagiarism consultant Jonathan Bailey admitted Thursday.

• The Times admitted Monday that Harris plagiarized multiple passages in her 2009 book, Smart on Crime, but alleged, however, that it was “not serious.” Some of the lengthy messages lifted were from Wikipedia and the Associated Press.

  The Harris campaign claimed on Tuesday that she did not plagiarize multiple passages, contradicting Harris’s allies in the media, including the New York Times and the New Republic.

  Citing the review of “a full dossier with additional allegations, which led some to accuse the New York Times of withholding that information from me,” Bailey backtracked on his original assessment in a Plagiarism Today article:

  With this new information, while I believe the case is more serious than I commented to the New York Times, the overarching points remain. While there are problems with this work, the pattern points to sloppy writing habits, not a malicious intent to defraud.
  
  Is it problematic? Yes. But it’s also not the wholesale fraud that many have claimed it to be. It sits somewhere between what the two sides want it to be.
  
  The 40-page document contains approximately 29 accusations (depending on how you count them). Eighteen of the allegations focus on the book, and another 11 focus on alleged self-plagiarisms that came later.

  Bailey’s assessment also tried to exonerate Harris from any wronging by claiming he agreed “passages represent plagiarism and are issues that need to be addressed” but “are relatively minor as far as plagiarism goes.”

  “I have to dismiss the self-plagiarism allegations out of hand,” he added. “Politicians repeat themselves, and it’s not surprising to see them reuse words and passages.”

  Conservative journalist Christopher Rufo exposed the plagiarism based on research by Dr. Stefan Weber, a respected Austrian expert on plagiarism.

  “Rightwing operatives are getting desperate as they see the bipartisan coalition of support Vice President Harris is building to win this election, as Trump retreats to a conservative echo chamber refusing to face questions about his lies,” Harris campaign spokesman James Singer alleged.

  Harris has not been questioned about the plagiarism. Neither Fox News’s Bret Baier nor Charlamagne tha God asked her about the copying.