The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) has cited a Washington Post report citing former Ron Paul employees publicly stating that that Republican presidential contender Ron Paul was aware of and approved vicious anti-Israel and racist statements in newsletters published under his name during the 1990s – something he has publicly denied. According to the Post, three sources with direct knowledge of Paul’s business affairs at the time have said that Paul was deeply involved in Ron Paul & Associates, which produced the newsletters, and signed off on the articles published within them.

Renae Hathway, a former secretary in Mr. Paul’s company said, “It was his newsletter, and it was under his name, so he always got to see the final product … He would proof it.” Former long-time Paul aide, Eric Dondero Rittberg, told the Post he witnessed Paul proofing, editing and signing off on his newsletters in the mid-1990s, while Ed Crane, president of the libertarian Cato Institute, said that he and Paul discussed direct-mail solicitations at the time and that they agreed that “people who have extreme views” were more likely than others to respond. Mr. Paul has either denied or claimed not to recall the facts asserted in these statements (‘Paul denies Washington Post report that he approved racially charged newsletters in 1990s,’ Washington Post, January 27, 2012).

ZOA National President Morton A. Klein said, “This is further evidence that Ron Paul’s denial that he made the many vitriolic, hateful, and bigoted statements about Jews, blacks and other minorities in these newsletters is untrue. 

“Mr. Paul has never condemned the statements that have been attributed to him in these letters; he has merely denied – falsely – that he made them. 

“Mr. Paul is not denying that these are his beliefs merely by disclaiming authorship. As we have said before, had Ron Paul genuinely disagreed with them and found them shocking, he had ample time and opportunity to say so publicly, as the ZOA called upon him to do on January 9. He has never done so. In fact, his current ploy of avoiding condemnation of these statements by instead claiming he didn’t say or authorize them strongly suggests that he fully agrees with them and does not reject these hateful, vicious views.

“The ZOA calls upon African-American and Jewish organizations and leaders to publicly condemn Ron Paul for his despicable, racist newsletters, which he edited and approved.”