Kamala Harris Reportedly Not Opposed to Releasing DNC’s Secret 2024 Autopsy

“Saying so privately to some big donors is very different than publicly calling for transparency from the DNC, which is badly needed,” said Norman Solomon of RootsAction, which has led calls for the release.

By Jessica Corbett, Common Dreams

Even former Vice President Kamala Harris reportedly “has no problem with a public airing” of the Democratic National Committee’s internal “autopsy” report on her 2024 loss to Republican President Donald Trump—which the DNC has continued to conceal, despite mounting demands for transparency.

Harris’ position was reported Thursday by NBC News, which noted that “while she indicated to donors that she had no issue with releasing it, Harris has not discussed the postmortem with DNC Chairman Ken Martin and did not know about his decision to keep it under wraps until it happened.”

NBC cited “a person who has heard the conversations,” one of multiple sources journalists Jonathan Allen and Natasha Korecki spoke with for their broader report exploring “turmoil over the Democratic Party’s future” and Harris’ consideration of a 2028 run.

For months, Martin has resisted pressure to release the autopsy—which, as Axios revealed in February, found that the Biden administration’s support for Israel’s genocidal assault on Palestinians in the Gaza Strip contributed to Harris’ defeat.

Citing a “person close to Harris,” NBC also reported Thursday that the former VP “is signaling privately that she has more to say about the Middle East now that she is freed from the Biden White House policy,” and “she is likely to do so after the midterm elections,” either “from the perspective of a party elder or from the perspective of a candidate seeking votes.”

While touring the country for the book she wrote after her loss, Harris has publicly acknowledged that she is weighing another White House run. Though the 2028 election is two and a half years away, she has led early polling. However, the party’s potential primary field is incredibly crowded, featuring dozens of current or former governors and members of Congress.

Potential contenders include governors from the Trump 2.0 era—such as Gavin Newsom of California, JB Pritzker of Illinois, Andy Beshear of Kentucky, and Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan—as well as leading progressive voices in Congress, such as Reps. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY).

Norman Solomon, national director of RootsAction, which has spearheaded calls for publishing the full postmortem, wrote in a recent opinion piece for Common Dreams that “Martin’s concealment of the autopsy report puts a thumb on the scale for one candidate: Kamala Harris.”

Solomon highlighted the DNC’s reported conclusion about the role of the Gaza genocide in the election result, and suggested that “renewed attention to the Harris 2024 finances would also be unwelcome.”

In response to Harris’ reported remarks to donors, Solomon said Thursday that “more than four months have passed since Martin announced he was reneging on his promise to release the autopsy.

“But Harris still hasn’t made any public statement that she believes it should be released,” he added. “Saying so privately to some big donors is very different than publicly calling for transparency from the DNC, which is badly needed.”