2003年，在卡玛拉·哈里斯的竞选旧金山地区检察官时，她的竞选团队发出邮件宣传她的候选资格，吹捧她作为检察官拥有“13年法庭经验”的记录。
美国广播公司新闻部获得的邮件副本将哈里斯描绘成“我们需要扭转我们地区检察官办公室的资深检察官”，并声称她有“作为一名杰出的公共检察官的长期记录”。
“卡玛拉已经审理了数百起严重的暴力重罪，包括杀人、强奸和儿童性侵犯案件，”邮件中写道。
但是在2003年选举日之前KGO电台举行的一场辩论中，哈里斯当时的对手，资深刑事辩护律师比尔·法齐奥指责哈里斯在她担任加利福尼亚州阿拉梅达县检察官和副地方检察官的记录上误导了选民。
“你审理过多少案件?你能告诉我们你审理过多少重罪吗?能给我们讲一个吗?”根据ABC新闻获得的辩论音频，法齐奥问哈里斯，当时的旧金山地区检察官特伦斯·哈利南也参加了辩论。
“我已经尝试了大约50个案例，法齐奥先生，这是关于领导力的，”哈里斯回应道。
法齐奥接着指出了哈里斯声称有更广泛的起诉记录的竞选文献。
“哈里斯女士，为什么你仍然公开的资料上说你审理了数百起重罪?我认为这是误导。我认为这是虚伪的。我认为这表明你没有领导能力，你不值得信任，”法齐奥说。"你继续发布信息说你已经审判了数百起重罪."
作为回应，哈里斯没有质疑法齐奥的说法，而是转向说，“作为一名职业检察官，领导与不同的社区合作，我已经做到了，这就是为什么我，而不是你，得到了每个执法机构的认可。”
“审判”对“起诉”
哈里斯在阿拉米达县开始了她的职业生涯，起诉涉及儿童性侵犯、杀人和抢劫的案件。1998年，她成为旧金山地区检察官办公室职业刑事股的主管律师，负责监督对惯犯的起诉。
2000年，哈里斯担任了旧金山市检察官家庭和儿童部门的负责人，之后于2003年进入政治舞台，竞选地区检察官。
法齐奥在2003年辩论中的指控没有伤害哈里斯，她继续在选举中击败他，然后以56%的选票击败哈利南，成为旧金山第一位有色人种当选的地方检察官。
本周，当被问及哈里斯成为地方检察官之前的起诉经历时，哈里斯总统竞选的一位发言人使用了略有不同的语言来描述她的记录，称她“参与”了数百起案件。
“副总统哈里斯在当选旧金山地区检察官之前，监督并参与了数百起严重犯罪的起诉，”哈里斯竞选发言人詹姆斯·辛格告诉美国广播公司新闻。“十多年来，她在阿拉米达起诉儿童性侵犯案件、杀人案件和抢劫案件，然后监管职业刑事股，并担任旧金山地区检察官办公室家庭和儿童部门的负责人。”
“这是20多年前旧金山选民关心的问题，也是她当选地区检察官的原因，”辛格说。
虽然哈里斯2003年的一些文献称哈里斯“审判”了数百起案件，但当时的其他竞选文献称她“起诉”了数百起案件，包括她的竞选网站，该网站使用了“起诉”一词，而不是“审判”，根据美国广播公司新闻(ABC News)通过互联网档案馆的Wayback机器查看的网页版本。
专家告诉ABC新闻，这是一个重要的区别。
“起诉案件的检察官意味着他们是某人面临指控的案件的律师。美国广播公司新闻法律撰稿人布莱恩·巴克米尔说:“当你审理了一个案件，就意味着这个案件将进入审判阶段。”“因此，起诉案件的数量应该比审判案件的数量多，因为你可能有一个案件没有进入审判，因为当事人认罪，案件被驳回，无论如何，你仍然要起诉那个案件。但你只审理了一个已经开庭的案子。”
一个有效的检察官
一位在哈里斯担任加州司法部长时与她密切合作的人告诉ABC新闻，他们认为她2003年的竞选信息可能是为了吸引更多的“外行观众”。
“我认为这场运动试图传达的是，她站在法庭上，出示证据，进行调查，然后起诉，包括在法庭上直播，在数百起案件中代表受害者辩护，”这位要求匿名的人士说。
但旧金山的一位资深诉讼律师告诉美国广播公司新闻，哈里斯在奥克兰附近的阿拉米达市担任检察官期间认识她，称哈里斯“审判”了数百起案件的具体说法具有误导性。
“当你说你审理案件时，这意味着你去了法庭，并把它带到了审判中，要么是法庭审判，要么是陪审团审判，”这位要求匿名的诉讼律师说，对哈里斯2003年声称她“审理了数百起严重暴力重罪案件”进行了反驳
哈里斯2003年竞选活动的发言人黛比·梅斯罗(Debbie Mesloh)告诉美国广播公司(ABC)新闻，“当你谈论为犯罪幸存者伸张正义时，解析语义是荒谬的。”
“卡玛拉·哈里斯在法庭上有超过13年的经验，为受害者寻求和获得正义。她既是一名经验丰富的出庭律师，也是团队经理，这就是为什么她在解决犯罪的根本原因和坚持问责制方面如此有效，”梅斯罗在一份声明中说，他后来担任哈里斯在旧金山地方检察官办公室的联络主任。“底线是，检察官是否掌握法律，对指控做出判断，同情犯罪幸存者，尊重法官?”
“这就是为什么一个有效的检察官和阿达，这就是为什么旧金山选择卡玛拉·哈里斯作为他们选出的地区检察官，”梅斯罗说。
她做了正确的事
ABC新闻为法齐奥播放了辩论音频，法齐奥现在支持哈里斯竞选总统，自20多年前的DA竞争以来，他就没有听过这段录音。
他回忆说，哈里斯在竞选活动中“夸大了她的记录”，但形容这是政客中常见的“吹嘘”。
“我认为，当人们竞选公职时，我们都倾向于这样做。你会看到有人说他们以最优异的成绩毕业，但他们没有，或者以全班第一的成绩毕业，但他们没有。
法齐奥说，回顾他面对哈里斯的那一刻，哈里斯将于9月10日在一个地方与前总统唐纳德·特朗普对决总统辩论他现在相信哈里斯在那一刻做了“正确的事情”，通过转移话题来避免解决她竞选言论中的不一致。
“她基本上没接。法齐奥说:“她只是继续说，这一切都与领导力有关。“我认为这是我作为一个政治家的缺点之一——人们会问我一个问题，我倾向于回答它，而不是把它作为一个机会来说，我是一个多么伟大的人，或者如果我是阿达，我会是一个多么伟大的人。就辩论策略而言，她做得对。”
自从在竞选中取代总统乔·拜登以来，哈里斯一直专注于她的检察官职业生涯，这与特朗普形成鲜明对比，特朗普今年早些时候是检察官在34个重罪法庭被定罪在他的封口费案件中，面临着许多悬而未决的法律问题。这位前总统否认所有不法行为，并表示将对其刑事定罪提起上诉。
在电视广告中，哈里斯的竞选团队说“作为一名检察官，她将杀人犯和虐待者绳之以法”——这是她在竞选演说中重复的观点。
“正如你们许多人所知，在我当选副总统和参议员之前，我是当选的司法部长和地方检察官。在那之前，我是一名法庭检察官，”副总统说，这已经成为竞选活动中的一句熟悉的话。“因此，在这些角色中，我扮演了各种各样的罪犯。虐待女性的掠夺者。敲诈消费者的诈骗犯。为了自己的利益而违反规则的骗子。所以，当我说:我知道唐纳德·特朗普是那种类型的人时，请听我说。”
Harris faced criticism for inflating her prosecutorial record in 2003 district attorney campaign
In 2003, duringKamala Harris'run for San Francisco district attorney, her campaign sent out mailers promoting her candidacy that touted her record as a prosecutor with "thirteen years of courtroom experience."
The mailers, copies of which ABC News has obtained, portrayed Harris as "the veteran prosecutor we need to turn around our District Attorney office" and claimed she had a "long track record of being an outstanding public prosecutor."
"Kamala has tried hundreds of serious and violent felonies, including homicide, rape, and child sexual assault cases," the mailer stated.
But during a debate held in the runup to Election Day 2003 on KGO Radio, Harris' then-opponent, veteran criminal defense attorney Bill Fazio, accused her of misleading voters about her record as a prosecutor and deputy district attorney in California's Alameda County.
"How many cases have you tried? Can you tell us how many serious felonies you have tried? Can you tell us one?" Fazio asked Harris, according to audio ABC News obtained of the debate, which also included then-current San Francisco District Attorney Terence Hallinan.
"I've tried about 50 cases, Mr. Fazio, and it's about leadership," Harris responded.
Fazio then pointed out campaign literature where Harris had been claiming a more extensive prosecutorial record.
"Ms. Harris, why does your information, which is still published, say that you tried hundreds of serious felonies? I think that's misleading. I think that's disingenuous. I think that shows that you are incapable of leadership and you're not to be trusted," Fazio said. "You continue to put out information which says you have tried hundreds of serious felonies."
Harris, in response, did not dispute Fazio's claims and instead pivoted, stating that "leadership, working with different communities as a career prosecutor, I've done that, which is why I, not you, have every law enforcement organization's endorsement."
'Tried' versus 'prosecuted'
Harris began her career in Alameda County prosecuting cases involving child sexual assault, homicides and robberies. In 1998, she became the managing attorney of the Career Criminal Unit in the San Francisco district attorney's office, where she was responsible for overseeing the prosecution of repeat offenders.
In 2000, Harris took on the role of head of the San Francisco City Attorney's Division on Families and Children, before entering the political arena in 2003 with her campaign for district attorney.
Fazio's accusation in the 2003 debate did not hurt Harris, and she went on to best him in the election before winning a runoff against Hallinan with 56% of the vote to become the first person of color elected district attorney of San Francisco.
Asked this week about Harris' prosecutorial experience before she became district attorney, a spokesperson for Harris' presidential campaign used slightly different language to describe her record -- saying she was "involved in" hundreds of cases.
"Vice President Harris oversaw and was involved in the prosecution of hundreds of serious crimes before she was elected District Attorney of San Francisco," Harris campaign spokesperson James Singer told ABC News. "For more than a decade, she prosecuted child sexual assault cases, homicides, and robberies in Alameda, before overseeing the career criminal unit and served as the head of division on families and children in the San Francisco District Attorney's office."
"That is what mattered to voters in San Francisco more than two decades ago and why she was elected District Attorney," Singer said.
While some of Harris' 2003 literature said that Harris had "tried" hundreds of cases, other campaign literature at the time said she had "prosecuted" hundreds of cases -- including her campaign website, which used the word "prosecuted" instead of "tried," according to a version of the web page viewed by ABC News via the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine.
Experts told ABC News that's an important distinction.
"A prosecutor prosecuting the case means that they were the attorney on the case where someone were facing charges. When you have tried a case, that means that case is going to trial," said ABC News legal contributor Brian Buckmire. "So the number of prosecuting cases should be a higher number than trying a case, because you may have a case that doesn't go to trial because the person takes a plea, the case get dismissed, whatever may be, you still prosecute that case. But you only tried a case that has gone to trial."
'An effective prosecutor'
One person who worked closely with Harris when she was California attorney general told ABC News that they believed her 2003 campaign messaging was likely due to an effort to appeal to more of a "layperson's audience."
"I think what the campaign was trying to communicate was that she had stood up in court, presented evidence, had investigated and then prosecuted, including live in court, advocating on behalf of a victim in hundreds of cases," said the person, who asked not to be identified.
But a veteran litigator in San Francisco who knew Harris during her time working as a line prosecutor in the city of Alameda, next to Oakland, told ABC News that the specific claim that Harris had "tried" hundreds of cases was misleading.
"When you say you tried cases, that means you went to the courtroom and took that to trial, either a court trial or a jury trial," the litigator, who asked not to be identified, said, disputing Harris' 2003 claim that she had "tried hundreds" of serious and violent felony cases
Debbie Mesloh, who served as a spokesperson for Harris' 2003 campaign, told ABC News that it was "absurd to parse semantics when you are talking about securing justice for crime survivors."
"Kamala Harris had over 13 years of experience in the courtroom, seeking and getting justice for victims. She was both an experienced trial lawyer and team manager, which is why she was so effective at addressing the root causes of crime and upholding accountability," Mesloh, who went on to serve as Harris' communications director in the San Francisco DA's office, said in a statement. "The bottom line is, does the prosecutor have command of the law, judgment on charging, empathy for the crime survivors, respect of the bench?"
"That is what makes an effective prosecutor and a DA, and that is why San Franciscans chose Kamala Harris to serve as their elected District Attorney," Mesloh said.
'She did the right thing'
ABC News played the debate audio for Fazio, who now supports Harris for president and hadn't heard the recording since the DA contest over twenty years ago.
He recalled that Harris had been "exaggerating her record" on the campaign trail, but described it as the kind of "puffery" that's common among politicians.
"I think we all tend to do that when people run for office. You'll get people who say that they graduated summa cum laude and they didn't, or graduated top of their class, and they didn't," Fazio told ABC News.
Fazio said that looking back on the moment he confronted Harris -- who is set to face off against former President Donald Trump on Sept. 10 at apresidential debatehosted by ABC News -- he now believes Harris did the "right thing" in the moment by pivoting to avoid addressing the inconsistency in her campaign rhetoric.
"She basically didn't answer it. She just proceeded to state that it's all about leadership," Fazio said. "I think that's one of my shortcomings as a politician -- people would ask me a question, and I tended to answer it rather than use it as an opportunity to say what a great person I was or would have been as a DA. As far as debate strategy goes, she did the right thing."
Since replacing President Joe Biden on the campaign trail, Harris has leaned into her career as a prosecutor, in contrast to Trump, who earlier this year wasconvicted on 34 felony courtsin his hush money case and faces multiple outstanding legal issues. The former president, who denies all wrongdoing, has said he will appeal his criminal conviction.
In TV ads, Harris' campaign has said that "as a prosecutor, she put murderers and abusers behind bars" -- a sentiment she's echoed on the stump.
"As many of you know, before I was elected vice president and before I was elected a United States senator, I was an elected attorney general and an elected district attorney. And before that, I was a courtroom prosecutor," the vice president has said in what's become a familiar line on the campaign trail. "So, in those roles, I took on perpetrators of all kinds. Predators who abused women. Fraudsters who ripped off consumers. Cheaters who broke the rules for their own gain. So hear me when I say: I know Donald Trump's type."
