Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris’ campaign is dismissing accusations that she and a co-author plagiarized parts of a 2009 book on the U.S. criminal justice system as a desperate attempt by “rightwing operatives” to distract voters ahead of next month’s election.

Conservative activist Christopher Rufo surfaced allegations of plagiarism earlier this week. An expert says the claims are overblown.

Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign Tuesday rejected claims that she and a co-author had plagiarized a handful of passages in a 2009 book on fighting crime, arguing that the allegations amounted to a partisan attempt to weaponize a 15-year-old work.

Christopher Rufo has attacked a 2009 book co-authored by the vice president, but experts dismissed the claims of plagiarism as largely unfounded.

Plagiarism expert Jonathan Bailey said Vice President Harris’s 2009 book showed signs of “sloppy writing habits” but pushed back on claims that the Democratic nominee engaged in “wholesale fraud.” In an article published Tuesday in “Plagiarism Today,

No wonder her campaign is now in deep strife.”