Eric Dondero, who worked for Ron Paul on and off for a total of 12 years dating back to 1987, released a jaw-dropping statement in Right Wing News Monday in regards to his old boss. It appears Dondero wrote the statement to answer questions presented to him of late by various media outlets in regards to controversial newsletters connected to the congressman that have consumed his campaign for President. While attempting to defend Paul as not being a “racist” or “homophobic,” as many have accused him of being given the hateful language in the newsletters, Dondero “sets the record straight” by making shocking claims about the beliefs and behind-closed-doors statements of the man vying to be Commander in Chief. The Paul campaign has already reacted to Dondero’s claims, labeling him as a disgruntled ex-employee. Nonetheless, the allegations are astounding.
Dondero begins by strongly refuting claims that Paul is a “racist,” saying he never heard Paul make any racist comments in the 12 years he worked for the man, and makes clear that the congressman has frequently hired blacks and Hispanics for his office staff. However, Dondero makes “one caveat,“ stating that Paul is ”out of touch,” with both Hispanic and Black culture:
“He is completely clueless when it comes to Hispanic and Black culture, particularly Mexican-American culture. And he is most certainly intolerant of Spanish and those who speak strictly Spanish in his presence, (as are a number of Americans, nothing out of the ordinary here.)”
Dondero, who is half-Jewish himself, says Paul is not Anti-Semitic. He says Paul has no issue with Jewish-Americans and can “categorically” say that he has never heard anything Anti-Semitic, slurs or any sort of derogatory marks come out of Paul’s mouth. However, Dondero claims Paul is “most certainly Anti-Israel, and Anti-Israeli in general:”
“He wishes the Israeli state did not exist at all. He expressed this to me numerous times in our private conversations. His view is that Israel is more trouble than it is worth, specifically to the America taxpayer. He sides with the Palestinians, and supports their calls for the abolishment of the Jewish state, and the return of Israel, all of it, to the Arabs.”
Dondero moves to the claims that Rep. Paul is a “homo-phobe.“ The former aide claims that Paul is not bigoted towards homosexuals but ”personally uncomfortable” around them. Dondero points to two instances to back his claims. One being in 1988, when Paul was staying with an openly gay Libertarian supporter for a 3-day campaign swing in the SF Bay Area, and pulled the young personal assistant aside demanding Dondero find a bathroom he could use because he did not want to use the one at his homosexual friend’s home. The second instance occurred many years later when a fellow staffer told Dondero that Paul allegedly swatted away a handshake from flamboyant gay man who was a “hardcore campaign supporter.”
Eric Dondero (Libertarian.net)
After giving his piece on the areas he feels the “liberal media is ferociously attacking Ron” on, like “stupid and whacky things on race and gays he may have said or written in the past,” Dondero moves to what he considers the real problem with his old boss: foreign policy.
Based on countless “arguments/discussions” with Paul over the years, Dondero claims that no matter how hard the candidate denies it “Ron Paul is most assuredly an isolationist.”
“For example, he strenuously does not believe the United States had any business getting involved in fighting Hitler in WWII. He expressed to me countless times, that ‘saving the Jews,’ was absolutely none of our business. When pressed, he often times brings up conspiracy theories like FDR knew about the attacks of Pearl Harbor weeks before hand, or that WWII was just ‘blowback,’ for Woodrow Wilson’s foreign policy errors, and such. ”
Moving to more contemporary subjects, Dondero states “with absolute certainty” that Paul was opposed to the War in Afghanistan and to any military reaction to the 9/11 attacks.
“He immediately stated to us staffers, me in particular, that Bush/Cheney were going to use the attacks as a precursor for ‘invading’ Iraq. He engaged in conspiracy theories including perhaps the attacks were coordinated with the CIA, and that the Bush administration might have known about the attacks ahead of time. He expressed no sympathies whatsoever for those who died on 9/11, and pretty much forbade us staffers from engaging in any sort of memorial expressions, or openly asserting pro-military statements in support of the Bush administration.”
Dondero claims that Paul, up to the eve of the resolution vote, was telling staffers that he planned to vote “No” on a resolution initiating the War in Afghanistan. Dondero claims that all of the congressman’s district staff told his Chief of Staff that they would immediately resign if Ron voted “No.”
“At the very last minute Ron switched his stance and voted ‘Yay,’ much to the great relief of Jackie and I. He never explained why, but I strongly suspected that he realized it would have been political suicide; that staunchly conservative Victoria would revolt, and the Republicans there would ensure that he would not receive the nomination for the seat in 2002.”
The claims come just over a week before the start of Republican primary voting.
Eric Dondero was a Senior Aide to Congressman Paul from 1997-2003, Ron Paul for Congress Campaign Coordinator from 1995-1996, National Organizer for Draft Ron Paul for President from 1991-1992, and a personal assistant for Ron, Libertarian for President from 1987-1988. That said, Dondero’s claims should be taken with a grain of salt.
Paul campaign manager Jesse Benton emailed The Weekly Standard Sunday afternoon in regards to Dondero’s latest statement:
“Eric Dondero is a disgruntled former staffer who was fired for performance issues. He has zero credibility and should not be taken seriously.”
A Facebook group was created during the 2008 campaign, titled “Eric Dondero is Slime!” making similar allegations to Benton, that Dondero is a disgruntled former employee attempting to enact an unjust revenge on his former boss.
Dondero disputes he was fired, telling CBS News he resigned in 2003 after going “back and forth” with Paul for months. Dondero even challenged Paul for his congressional seat in 2007.
Dondero is currently the publisher and editor of LibertarianRepublican.net.
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