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Texas congressman and GOP Presidential candidate Ron Paul appeared on CNN and was questioned about the racist newsletters that were written under his name in the 80s and 90s.

Ron Paul disavowed the newsletters and claimed he didn’t write them. He said that they were written by between six or eight people who worked for his staff. When asked if he could find out who wrote the newsletters Paul said “Well, possibly I could.”

In 1996 a Paul spokesman did not not deny that Paul wrote the newsletters and defended them according to the Houston Chronicle.

A campaign spokesman for Paul said statements about the fear of black males mirror pronouncements by black leaders such as the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who has decried the spread of urban crime.

Paul continues to write the newsletter for an undisclosed number of subscribers, the spokesman said.

Again in 1996, Ron Paul campaign spokesman, Michael Sullivan did not deny Paul wrote the newsletters but said he was be “quoted out of context” in a statement to to Austin American Statesman obtained by the Libertarian magazine “Reason.”

“Dr. Paul is being quoted out of context,” [Paul 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.”

Also in 1992, Paul wrote, “Opinion polls consistently show that only about 5 percent of blacks have sensible political opinions.”

Sullivan said Paul does not consider people who disagree with him to be sensible. And most blacks, Sullivan said, do not share Paul’s views. The issue is political philosophy, not race, Sullivan said.

“Polls show that only about 5 percent of people with dark-colored skin support the free market, a laissez faire economy, an end to welfare and to affirmative action,” Sullivan said. […]

“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.”

Ron Paul did not say why he did not deny writing the newsletters in 1996 and had his campaign spokesman defend them. He was not asked about his connections to the racist organization, The John Birch Society or the support he receives from the white supremacist site, Stormfront.