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Washington Times Ends Senator Rand Paul's Op-Ed Column Amid Plagiarism Reports

Rand Paul's office

After slamming reports of plagiarism as the work of "hacks" and "haters," U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., admitted on Tuesday that his office has been "sloppy" in his speeches and writings.

U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky.
Credit Rand Paul's office

But the acknowledgment came too late for a Washington newspaper that has published hundreds of Paul's op-ed columns—and won't anymore.

The story began last Monday when MSNBC's Rachel Maddow found parts of Paul's speech at Liberty University referring to the science fiction film Gattaca were lifted from the movie's Wikipedia page.

Since then other outlets have found parts of Paul's books, columns and other public speeches were lifted nearly word for word from others without attribution to its original authors.

"Ultimately, I'm the boss, and things go out under my name, and so it is my fault," Paul told CNN's Wolf Blitzer. "But I would say that people need to also understand that, you know, I never have intentionally ever presented anyone's ideas as my own or tried to pass off anything."

From The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer:

Observers noted that Paul remained defiant, however. The senator is a speculative 2016 presidential contender, but told Blitzer he is being held to a different standardthan others.

"We're now going to footnote everything and make sure it has a reference, because I do take this personally, and I don't want to be accused of misrepresenting myself, and I've never intended to do so," Paul said.

But fallout from the controversy continued late Tuesday evening when The Washington Times announced it is ending Paul's columns with the newspaper.

From The Washington Times:

The newspaper and the senator mutually agreed to end his weekly column, which has appeared on each Friday in the newspaper since the summer.

“We expect our columnists to submit original work and to properly attribute material, and we appreciate that the senator and his staff have taken responsibility for an oversight in one column,” Times Editor John Solomon said.

“We also appreciate the original insights he has shared with our readers over the last few months and look forward to future contributions from Sen. Paul and any other members of Congress who take the time to help educate our readers with original thought leadership pieces,” Mr. Solomon said.

 

Copyright 2013 89.3 WFPL News Louisville

Phillip M. Bailey became WFPL's political editor in 2011, covering city, state and regional campaigns and elected officials. He also covers Metro Government, including the mayor's office and Metro Council. Before coming to WFPL, Phillip worked for three years as a staff writer at LEO Weekly and was a fellow at the Academy of Alternative Journalism at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.
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