CNN Invests in Kamala Harris’ So-Called Plagiarism Scandal!

Here’s what CNN just posted, claiming that Harris lifted language from a Republican lawyer when he testified before Congress in 2007:

Experts CNN spoke to said the instance, first reported by the conservative Washington Free Beacon on Tuesday, raises concerns but does not constitute a serious example of plagiarism.

The case occurred when Harris was San Francisco’s district attorney. He testified at the time before the House Judiciary Committee in support of the John R. John R. Prosecutors and Advocates Incentives Act of 2007, which would have created a student loan repayment program for state prosecutors and local and public defenders.

His prepared testimony lifted paragraphs from the prepared testimony of Paul Logli, then the Republican state attorney for Illinois and chairman of the board of the National District Attorneys Association, who testified before the Senate two months earlier. The paragraphs use the same survey and almost identical language to each other.

Here’s what really it happened

The “Republican lawyer” was actually the chairman of the board of the National District Attorneys Association, which wrote the testimony. Harris was also on that board and used the same pre-redacted testimony two months later, because the statement was written for either of them. Harris testified before the House, while Republican Paul Logli testified before the Senate.

Logli told the Free Beacon that he remembers the organization researching and drafting its initial statement. He said the organization likely used similar statements to be consistent with its positions.

“Kamala Harris represented the California state attorneys general as a member of the NDAA Board of Directors and testified in that capacity two months later before the House Judiciary Committee,” he told the Beacon. “I believe he also relied on the support of NDAA staff for his initial statement.”

And yet CNN still used this headline:

Harris lifted the Republican lawyer’s language in his 2007 congressional testimony

In case you’re ever wondering how far to take their political coverage.