VIDEO: Ron Paul takes credit for controversial newsletters in 1995 video
We present you with the new news-oriented BuzzFeed: This video is a not-so-positive revelation for the Ron Paul camp — Paul straight-up talking up the controversial newsletters that have suddenly cropped up in the press again amidst evidence of racism. He does seem quick to take credit for the Ron Paul Survival Report in this 1995 video. (As he puts it: "I also do an investment letter," which seems to imply he writes or at least edits it.) The question, obviously: Do the next 16 years make up for what came before this clip, anyway?
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The newsletters have plagued him since he ran to reclaim his seat in Congress in 1996. As he vies for an upset win in the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses, they continue to shadow him today. What's changed, from then to now, is Paul's explanation.
Pressed recently about the contents of the Ron Paul Political Report, Ron Paul's Freedom Report, the Ron Paul Survival Report and the Ron Paul Investment Letter, Paul has simply denied direct involvement.
"I didn't write them," he told CNN, when asked about the newsletter's racist descriptions of urban society and paranoid conspiracy theories about federal government. "I disavow them. That's it."
But since Paul spoke to CNN, a number of old videos have surfaced showing him touting the newsletters that were being put out under his name. Paul's defenders have noted that even in those video clips, he does not claim authorship, which is true. Back when the issue first arose, however, he was willing to acknowledge that the words were his -- the only complaints he made were about context.
The Huffington Post went through archived newspaper clips from Paul's '96 congressional campaign against Lefty Morris and unearthed several new instances of Paul or his campaign pleading for a more sympathetic understanding of what he wrote.
The Dallas Morning News -- May 22, 1996.
Dr. Paul denied suggestions that he was a racist and said he was not evoking stereotypes when he wrote the columns. He said they should be read and quoted in their entirety to avoid misrepresentation.Dr. Paul also took exception to the comments of Mr. Bledsoe, saying that the voters in the 14th District and the people who know him best would be the final judges of his character.
"If someone challenges your character and takes the interpretation of the NAACP as proof of a man's character, what kind of a world do you live in?" Dr. Paul asked.
In the interview, he did not deny he made the statement about the swiftness of black men.
"If you try to catch someone that has stolen a purse from you, there is no chance to catch them," Dr. Paul said.
Austin American-Statesman -- May 23, 1996
"Dr. Paul is being quoted out of context," [Paul's spokesman, Michael] Sullivan said. "It's like picking up 'War and Peace' and reading the fourth paragraph on page 481 and thinking you can understand what's going on.""You have to understand what he is writing. Democrats in Texas are trying to stir things up by using half quotes to impugn his character," Sullivan said. "His writings are intellectual. He assumes people will do their own research, get their own statistics, think for themselves and make informed judgments."
Austin American-Statesman -- July 25, 1996
Morris distributed Paul's article to reporters at a Capitol news conference. It was not the first time. Morris has been scrutinizing Paul's writings and sharing his findings with reporters. In May, he released an article in which Paul described a majority of black men in Washington, D.C., as ''semi-criminal or entirely criminal.''Morris, a Bee Cave lawyer, once again called on Paul to release back copies of the newsletter he has published for more than a decade. Paul, a Surfside obstetrician, has refused.
He said he has written ''thousands of items'' during the past 20 years and that releasing these materials would be impractical. Paul said releasing all those writings would be like asking Morris to ''provide documents for every lawsuit he has been involved in during his lengthy legal career.''
For years, Ron Paul published a series of newsletters that dispensed political news and investment advice, but also routinely indulged in bigotry. Here's a selection of some especially inflammatory passages, with links to scanned images of the original documents in which they appeared.
Race
"A Special Issue on Racial Terrorism" analyzes the Los Angeles riots of 1992: "Order was only restored in L.A. when it came time for the blacks to pick up their welfare checks three days after rioting began. ... What if the checks had never arrived? No doubt the blacks would have fully privatized the welfare state through continued looting. But they were paid off and the violence subsided."
The November 1990 issue of the Political Report had kind words for David Duke.
This December 1990 newsletter describes Martin Luther King Jr. as "a world-class adulterer" who "seduced underage girls and boys" and "replaced the evil of forced segregation with the evil of forced integration."
A February 1991 newsletter attacks "The X-Rated Martin Luther King."
An October 1990 edition of the Political Report ridicules black activists, led by Al Sharpton, for demonstrating at the Statue of Liberty in favor of renaming New York City after Martin Luther King. The newsletter suggests that "Welfaria," "Zooville," "Rapetown," "Dirtburg,"and "Lazyopolis " would be better alternatives—and says, "Next time, hold that demonstration at a food stamp bureau or a crack house."
A May 1990 issue of the Ron Paul Political Report cites Jared Taylor, who six months later would go onto found the eugenicist and white supremacist periodical American Renaissance.
The January 1993 issue of the Survival Report worries about America's "disappearing white majority."
The July 1992 Ron Paul Political Report declares, "Jury verdicts, basketball games, and even music are enough to set off black rage, it seems," and defends David Duke. The author of the newsletter—presumably Paul—writes, "My youngest son is starting his fourth year in medical school. He tells me there would be no way to persuade his fellow students of the case for economic liberty."
A March 1993 Survival Report describes Bill Clinton's supposedly "illegitimate children, black and white: 'woods colts' in backwoods slang."
Gays
The December 1989 Ron Paul Political Report contains entries on a "new form of racial terrorism," cites former Congressman Bill Dannemeyer's claim that "the average homosexual has 1,000 or more partners in a lifetime," and quotes Lew Rockwell, president of the Ludwig von Mises Institute, in the third person.
In January 1990, the Ron Paul Political Report cites "a well-known libertarian editor" who "told me: 'The ACT-UP slogan on stickers plastered all over Manhattan is 'Silence=Death.' But shouldn't it be Sodomy = Death'?"
The September 1994 issue of the Ron Paul Survival Report states that "those who don't commit sodomy, who don't get blood a transfusion, and who don't swap needles, are virtually assured of not getting AIDS unless they are deliberately infected by a malicious gay."
The June 1990 issue of the Political Report says: "I miss the closet. Homosexuals, not to speak of the rest of society, were far better off when social pressure forced them to hide their activities."
A January 1994 edition of the Survival Report states that "gays in San Francisco do not obey the dictates of good sense," adding: "[T]hese men don't really see a reason to live past their fifties. They are not married, they have no children, and their lives are centered on new sexual partners." Also, "they enjoy the attention and pity that comes with being sick."
Survivalism and Militias
The January 1995 issue of the Survival Report—released just three months before the Oklahoma City bombing—cites an anti-government militia's advice to other militias, including, "Don't fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here."
The October 1992 issue of the Political Report paraphrases an "ex-cop" who offers this strategy for protecting against "urban youth": "If you have to use a gun on a youth, you should leave the scene immediately, disposing of the wiped off gun as soon as possible. Such a gun cannot, of course, be registered to you, but one bought privately (through the classifieds, for example)."
Conspiracies
This 1978 newsletter says the Trilateral Commission is "no longer known only by those who are knowledgeable about international conspiracies, but is routinely mentioned in the daily news."
Middle East
A 1989 newsletter compares Salman Rushdie to Ernst Zundel, a Canadian Holocaust-denier.
Anti-Government Paranoia/Conspiracy Theories/Survivalism
A fundraising letter from Paul's 1984 Senate campaign in which Paul complains about the "minions of Kissinger and Rockefeller" and "the big New York banks, and their pals in Texas" who "want me silenced."
The January 1988 Ron Paul Political Report approvingly cites Dr. William C. Douglass, who "believes that AIDS is a deliberately engineered hybrid" developed at a World Health Organization experiment conducted at Ft. Detrick. Douglass has long been a fringe medical guru, and today claims that "smoking can help you live longer!!!"
The November 1989 Ron Paul Political Report reports on the Bohemian Grove and Ronald Reagan's "old Trilateralist agenda item of four-year terms for Congressmen."
This 1993 Ron Paul Strategy Guide entitled, "How to Protect Yourself from Urban Violence," is a special supplement to the Ron Paul Survival Report.
In the April 1993 Ron Paul Survival Report, the author—writing in the first person—states, "Whether [the 1993 World Trade Center bombing] was a setup by the Israeli Mossad, as a Jewish friend of mine suspects, or was truly a retaliation by the Islamic fundamentalists, matters little." The newsletters also warns readers to "do your very best to keep your family away from inner cities. If you can't, have a haven remote from the metropolitan areas."
The May 1995 issue of the Ron Paul Survival Report warns of "The Trilateralist Alan Greenspan" and its author writes, "Now that my five children are grown and educated, I've listened to the many supporters who've urged me to return to office. I can now give up my medical practice, and dedicate every fiber of my being to saving our country." The newsletter also contains an advertisement for the Ron Paul congressional exploratory committee.
The September 1995 issue of the Ron Paul Survival Report asks about "Black Helicopters?"
The June 1996 issue of the Ron Paul Survival Report refers to Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms officers as "Jackbooted Thugs."
Jews
The November 1992 Ron Paul Survival Report defends chess champion and Holocaust-denier Bobby Fischer, saying that "the brilliant Fischer, who has all the makings of an American hero, is very politically incorrect on Jewish questions, for which he will never be forgiven, even though he is a Jew. Thus we are not supposed to herald him as the world's greatest chess player."
Pat Buchanan
In January 1992, Paul writes about his consideration of a presidential bid which he dashed after Pat Buchanan expressed his intention to run. Paul wrote of "the essential compatibility between [Buchanan's] ideas and mine" and "agreed to serve as the chairman of his economic advisory committee."
A 1992 issue of the Rothbard-Rockwell-Report tells of Paul's decision to defer to Pat Buchanan in the 1992 Republican presidential primary.
Newsletter Authorship
The masthead of March 1987 Ron Paul Investment Letter lists "the Hon. Ron Paul" as "Editor and Publisher" and "Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr." as one of several contributing editors.
An undated personal solicitation letter—signed by Paul—asking the recipient to subscribe to his newsletter in anticipation of (presumably) the 1988 Libertarian Party Presidential nominating convention.
The April 1988 Ron Paul Investment Letter lists Paul as Editor.
The May 1988 Ron Paul Investment Letter lists Lew Rockwell as Editor. It also advertises books by the far-right conspiracy theorist Gary Allen, who was a contributing editor to the Ron Paul Investment Letter.
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