Shapiro Recalls Shocking ‘Double Agent’ Question During Harris Campaign Vetting

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro has recounted how staff vetting him as a potential 2024 running mate for then-Vice President Kamala Harris pressed him on Israel in a way he described as offensive given his Jewish faith.

In his new memoir, “Where We Keep the Light,” Shapiro wrote that the Harris campaign team scrutinized his views on Israel and, at the last minute, posed a question that left him stunned. The governor detailed that he was asked: “Had I been a double agent for Israel?” Shapiro stated in the book that he immediately called out the question for its “obvious antisemitic overtones” and claimed the vetting team responded, “Well, we have to ask.”

Shapiro further alleged that former White House counsel Dana Remus posed the specific question: “Have you ever communicated with an undercover agent of Israel?” His response, Shapiro wrote bluntly, was: “If they were undercover, I responded, how the hell would I know?” While expressing that he does not blame Remus personally for asking what she was directed to ask, Shapiro said the Harris team’s line of questioning revealed “a lot about some of the people around the VP.”

Shapiro also detailed his experience facing skepticism over his public opposition to what he viewed as antisemitism on college campuses during the Israel-Hamas war. In the memoir, he recalled that when Harris asked if he would be willing to apologize for statements he made, particularly regarding events at the University of Pennsylvania, Shapiro replied he would not. He stood by his stance, stating: “I believe in free speech, and I’ll defend it with all I’ve got.”

Shapiro added that campus speech is often protected even when controversial. “Most of the speech on campus, even that which I disagreed with, was peaceful and constitutionally protected,” he wrote. “But some wasn’t peaceful.” He also questioned whether the intensity of Israel-related questioning was unique to him: “I wondered whether these questions were being posed to just me — the only Jewish guy in the running — or if everyone who had not held a federal office was being grilled about Israel in the same way.”

Shapiro described the vetting process as uncomfortable but noted that the team remained “professional and businesslike,” though he admitted to having “a knot in his stomach” throughout. The memoir, set for release on January 27, provides Shapiro’s account of these events.