THE NEW REPUBLIC

10.01.2008

Who Wrote Ron Paul's Newsletters?

This seems to be the big question in the libertarian blogosphere right now, in reaction to my piece about Ron Paul's newsletters. Some people "in the know" are implying that it's Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr., Paul's former chief of staff and the founder of the Ludwig von Mises Institute. Rockwell is listed as a "contributing editor" of The Ron Paul Investment Letter, but when I interviewed him last week for the story, he denied ghostwriting material in Paul's newsletters. He said that he was "involved in the promotion" of the newsletters, as well as, "writing the subscription letters" (maybe he wrote this ditty [PDF]?) and "writing mailing lists." Rockwell told me that there were "seven or eight freelancers involved at various stages" of the newsletter's history.

When I asked him who was in charge of the editing and publishing of the newsletters, Rockwell got cryptic. "The person who was in charge is now long gone ... He left in unfortunate circumstances." Ultimately, however, Rockwell says his role was "just to bring the money in."

--James Kirchick

Posted: Thursday, January 10, 2008 10:46 AM with 13 comment(s)

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epackard-02 said:

Although I have no patience or tolerance for racists, I decided your articles hold no interest for me if you can't get basic fact-checking straight and note the difference between a "blanket" primary and "open" primary.

January 10, 2008 12:15 PM

tomgpalmer@tomgpalmer.com said:

I doubt that anyone has any doubts that it was Lew Rockwell. Libertarians have blown the whistle on him before, but the word didn't get out widely enough, it seems. You can search through the entries (and the by now familiar comment style from Rockwell's followers) at www.tomgpalmer.com/.../cat_the_fever_swamp.php

January 10, 2008 12:43 PM

teplukhin2you said:

Is there any other candidate running who would even have the gall to put his name forward were it associated, for YEARS, with such filth? Anyone besides The Duke, that is?

January 10, 2008 2:25 PM

bcbaird said:

(patiently awaiting the 1,200 comments from fanatical Ron Paul supporters...)

January 10, 2008 3:12 PM

Androscoggin said:

That newsletter reads like a parody of unhinged right-wing conspiracy theorism. He should have thrown in some black helicopters and the Freemasons for good measure.

January 10, 2008 3:47 PM

kerouac9 said:

Andro, you know that they save the good stuff for the subscribers!

January 10, 2008 4:49 PM

Robert B. Steely, MSgt, USAF said:

Ron Paul is claiming that a newsletter called, variously, the Ron Paul Political Report or Ron Paul Freedom Report or Ron Paul Survival Report (!), written in the first-person to suggest it's he himself writing, and published by Ron Paul &...

January 10, 2008 4:54 PM

thejauntyboulevardier said:

As I said yesterday, it is incredibly lame to say that a newsletter written under your name and carrying repellant material for at least 10 years, is not is some way, your responsibility. If Paul let this go on for 10+ years and either didn't know about it or did not notice, then he is just too plain stupid to be president.

The excuses that the Paul acolytes are currently making just defy credulity....

January 10, 2008 5:17 PM

If he doesn't know how to bring a libel action to at least defend his reputation, he's not fit to be a city councilman, let alone POTUS

January 10, 2008 6:11 PM

Please! In Ron Paul's Libertarian Utopia, there is no such thing as libel! People are free to say whatever they please, no matter what the consequences. After all, can't have the government mucking up free speech! If someone wants to right racist, paranoid rants under Dr. Paul's name in a newsletter that Dr. Paul pays for, what right does Ron Paul have to curtail his liberty?

January 10, 2008 6:37 PM

D'oh!

Ahem. "Write," not "right." "If someone wants to WRITE racist, paranoid rants..."

*hangs head in shame*

January 10, 2008 6:50 PM

mjmckay said:

I'm surprised we haven't seen it yet in all the many thousands of posts from the Paulsies, but every time they start off on "Dr Paul this" and "Dr Paul that" all I hear is that damned Short Round from Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom: "You call him Dr. Jones, lady!"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Click the link in my name for the (poor) audio

January 10, 2008 7:47 PM

cspencef said:

And the RonPaulists respond:

(sound of crickets chirping)

January 11, 2008 4:32 PM