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When Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., supported President Trumps outreach efforts with Russia last summer, including a diplomatic trip to the country himself, Vanity Fairs Tina Nguyen wrote that Rand Paul is Trumps Perfect Russia Stooge.

New York Magazines Jonathan Chait said Paul was a Loyal Trump Stooge for not supporting the investigation into the presidents "opaque ties to Russia."

Not to be outdone, neoconservative Stephen Hayes, the former Weekly Standard editor who once concocted the outlandish conspiracy theory that Saddam Hussein was in cahoots with Osama Bin Laden, penned a column titled, Rand Paul, Russian Stooge.

As a libertarian-conservative writer who often chronicles the career of Americas most high profile libertarian Republican, almost every Rand Paul story I have shared since the summer of 2016 on virtually any subject has been met with social media commenters parroting the notion that the Kentucky senator is a Russian stooge or even Vladimir Putins puppet.

On Friday, and confirmed on Sunday we learned these people are a bunch of conspiracy nuts.

Now that the Mueller report has recommended no indictments and the Justice Department has officially declared there was no collusion between Trump and Russia during the presidential election, Democrats and leftists in the media are doing their best to scramble the egg that has landed flatly on all their faces: "You havent seen the report!" "We dont know the full story yet!" No doubt as you read these words, most are still scrambling.

I cant blame them. If I put my credibility on the line for such an elaborate fabrication for as long as they have, I would be trying to prove it somehow wasnt a lie too.

For years, every pundit and Democratic pol in Washington hyped every new Russia headline like the Watergate break-in, writes Rolling Stone contributing editor Matt Taibbi. We broke every written and unwritten rule in pursuit of this story, starting with the prohibition on reporting things we cant confirm.

Taibbi laments how many in the press became willing foot soldiers for the Democrats efforts to undermine the president. Worse, its led to most journalists accepting a radical change in mission, Taibbi says. Weve become sides-choosers, obliterating the concept of the press as an independent institution whose primary role is sorting fact and fiction ...

Perhaps even worse than the left-leaning medias Democrat shilling, what was it Rand Paul did specifically that earned him the Russian stooge insult? He thought trying to establish better diplomatic ties with nuclear-armed Russia was preferable to a new Cold War.

Who was the last president to advise against starting another Cold War? Barack Obama.

"Gov. Romney few months ago when you were asked what's the biggest geopolitical threat facing America, you said Russia, not al Qaeda, Obama said to Republican Mitt Romney during a 2012 presidential debate. You said Russia the 1980s, they're now calling to ask for their foreign policy back because, you know, the Cold War's been over for 20 years.

And yet, most of Obamas former supporters have been more interested in restarting it for purely partisan reasons.

These are the people who believe Rand Paul is somehow an unprincipled stooge.

While Paul was busy pursuing the same realist foreign policy he advocated for long before Trump even emerged on the political scene, Trump-deranged zealots gleefully chose instead to portray the senator as engaging in something sinister. Friday, that narrative blew up in their face. I hope the biased media learns their lesson, and Democrats are able to accept the undisputed facts and move on, Paul said Sunday.

From todays more illuminated vantage point, what was worse than the supposed unpardonable sin of Paul trying to help Trump neuter the hawks within his own party and dethaw relations with Russia? Answer: Liberals and neoconservatives trying to restart the Cold War based on a wild-eyed conspiracy theory that has now been disproven.

Rand Pauls Russia critics have all been outright stooges for the Democratic Party and its agenda for two long years, wittingly or not. If they were honest, they would admit it.

Jack Hunter (@jackhunter74) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner's Beltway Confidential blog. He is the former political editor of Rare.us and co-authored the 2011 book The Tea Party Goes to Washington with Sen. Rand Paul.

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Pundits who called Rand Paul a 'Russian stooge' should admit they're ...

By ADAM B. LERNER

06/30/2015 07:40 AM EDT

Updated 06/30/2015 08:01 PM EDT

Rand Paul met privately with Cliven Bundy on Monday, the Nevada rancher and anti-government activist told POLITICO.

The encounter came after Bundy attended an event for the Kentucky senators presidential campaign at the Eureka Casino in Mesquite, Nevada. When the larger group dispersed, Bundy said, he was escorted by Pauls aides to a back room where he and the Republican 2016 contender spoke for approximately 45 minutes. (There were no scheduled meetings at Senator Pauls stop in Mesquite. He spoke to many people who came to this public event, none for 45 minutes and none planned, Paul spokesman Sergio Gor said.)

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The Nevada rancher said that he had expected only to have an opportunity to shake hands with Paul and make small-talk. He was surprised when campaign aides found a private room and allowed Bundy, his wife and son to speak with the candidate for the better part of an hour.

According to Bundy, the two mainly discussed federal land oversight and states rights, in addition to education policy a theme Paul brought up in his speech.

I dont think he really understood how land rights really work in the western United States, Bundy said. I was happy to be able to sort of teach him.

According to the Associated Press, Paul told the audience during the main event, I think almost all land use issues and animal issues, endangered species issues, ought to be handled at the state level.

I think that the government shouldnt interfere with state decisions, so if a state decides to have medical marijuana or something like that, it should be respected as a state decision, Paul reportedly added.

Bundy said that in their private meeting, Paul brought up the work of the American Lands Council, which raises money from groups like the Koch brothers Americans for Prosperity to wrestle land from the federal government and return it to the states via negotiations, legislation and litigation.

I disagree with that philosophy, Bundy said of the ALCs legalistic approach. My stand is we are already a sovereign state. The federal government doesnt need to turn this land back to us. Its already state land.

I dont want to sell this land to private ownership, because I believe I already have stewardship. He added, I educated Rand on that point, and said that the candidate seemed sympathetic to his point of view.

I dont claim ownership, Bundy said. I claim rights.

Bundy first made national headlines in the spring of 2014, when the federal government temporarily closed a large swathe of U.S. government-owned land in Clarke County, Nevada, to capture and impound Bundys cattle as a penalty for more than $1 million in unpaid grazing fees. Bundy refused to federal authority on the land where his family had lived for more than 120 years, but federal courts repeatedly sided with the Bureau of Land Management.

Shortly after the BLM closed the land, hundreds of armed militia members including members of far-right groups like the Oath Keepers and the White Mountain Militia descended on the land outside of Mesquite, Nevada. After a weeklong fight and a twenty-minute standoff where federal agents and protesters pointed guns at one another, the BLM ultimately backed down and returned Bundys cattle.

Though the government agency has said that it will continue to work through the courts to exact money owed by Bundy, he told POLITICO that no federal vehicle has returned to the land for more than a year.

The federal government is off my ranch and off this area of Clark County and they shouldnt come back, Bundy said.

After Bundys standoff, he briefly became a hero to far-right conservatives, bolstered by coverage on Fox News and praise by prominent Tea Party politicians like Paul and Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.).

But his star quickly plummeted after he made inflammatory comments about African Americans being better off under slavery.

I want to tell you one more thing I know about the Negro, Bundy told supporters shortly after the standoff, according to video footage captured by an onlooker. He recounted a time he drove past public-housing in Las Vegas and in front of that government house the door was usually open and the older people and the kids and there is always at least a half a dozen people sitting on the porch they didnt have nothing to do.

And because they were basically on government subsidy, so now what do they do? They abort their young children, they put their young men in jail, because they never learned how to pick cotton. And Ive often wondered, are they better off as slaves, picking cotton and having a family life and doing things, or are they better off under government subsidy? They didnt get no more freedom.

After those comments went public, Paul walked back his support and issued a statement saying Bundys remarks on race are offensive and I wholeheartedly disagree with him.

Bundy then apologized for the comments, saying at a press conference, Im probably one of the most non-racist people in America.

I hope I didnt offend anybody. If I did, I ask for your for your forgiveness, he added. But I meant what I said. It comes from the heart.

As for Bundy, he said he has not yet made up his mind about who he will support in 2016. He said that hes focused on which national politicians are most keen to return power to the states and local communities and said that, in their private meeting, Paul seemed keen to do so.

But Democrats, even before word of the private meeting surfaced, attacked Paul for what was first reported as a chance encounter. The Democratic National Committee sent an email tosupporters arguing that Paul isnt as sensitive to African-American issues as he says.

Michael Tyler, the groups director of African-American Media, wrote, Remember Rand Paul preaching of broadening the Republican Partys tent to include communities they typically ignore? Remember Rand Paul claiming he was the perfect candidate to spearhead this outreach? Go ahead and throw that idea out the window.

Rand Paul spent his day in Nevada kissing the ring of Cliven Bundy, Tyler added. The Cliven Bundy who is a self-avowed expert on the negro.

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Rand Paul meets with rogue rancher Cliven Bundy - POLITICO

Sen. Rand Paul is spending much of his time on Wednesday pushing back against Mitt Romney, tweeting a defense in the morning, then holding the conference call and also planning to appear on national TV. | Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Images

Rand Paul savaged Mitt Romney over his criticisms of President Donald Trump on Wednesday, declaring that the new senator from Utah is virtue signaling to the media and that his critiques of Trumps character are bad for the country and bad for the GOP.

Romney (R-Utah), who will take office on Thursday, took a shot at Trump in a Washington Post op-ed on Tuesday asserting that Trump has not risen to the mantle of the presidency. Paul told a group of reporters that those comments risk limiting Romneys influence in the Senate GOP conference and that his new Republican colleague should focus on substantive, not personal, differences with the president.

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"This is bad for the Republican Party and really bad for an ability to work together in the Senate to get things done, when you take the time to attack someones character, Paul said, lumping Romney in with Never Trumpers in the GOP. Its virtue signaling. They say: Look at how terrible the character of the president is. And by doing so they are building themselves up.

The Kentucky Republican ran against Trump in the 2016 race and exchanged harsh criticisms with Trump during their primary campaign but has since become one of the presidents closest allies despite occasionally voting against Trump's nominees and legislative proposals.

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Paul is spending much of his time on Wednesday pushing back against Romney, tweeting a defense in the morning, then holding the conference call with reporters and also planning to appear on national TV.

Two of the most vocal Republican Trump critics, Jeff Flake of Arizona and Bob Corker of Tennessee, are retiring after Wednesday, leaving a void in the conference that Romney may now be eager to fill. But Paul said Romney misjudged the appetite in the Senate GOP for Trump criticism by writing about Trumps character shortfall.

I just dont think it serves any usefulness for Republican senators to be out there attacking the character of the president, Paul said. How the president presents himself is up to him, but I dont think it does anyone any good to be running around saying: Im holier than thou, look at me.

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Rand Paul rips Romney for criticizing Trump - POLITICO

Paulhas a well-stocked political action committee, called Reinventing a New Direction, or RANDPAC.

Paul spent much more on travel, food and drink combined last year than he did on the original purpose for such politician PACs to use this separate political stash to make contributions to other like-minded candidates.

Just 10 percent of its spending went to contributions to campaigns of other politicians. It donated just $9,500 to Republicans running in high-stakes races for the Kentucky General Assembly.

Paul spokeswoman Kelsey Coopersaid all expenses of Pauls PAC are madewith the purpose to support candidates Sen. Paul likes for office, to promote the issues that he cares about that make him a different kind of Republican, and to have activists and donors from around the country who believe in his message of liberty and action.

But Pauls PACgot most of its money from people not political action committees and much of that from small donors.

MAIN REPORT: McConnell andPaul spend their PAC money very differently

The Courier Journal examined reports filed by RANDPAC with the Federal Election Commission for the period covering Jan. 1, 2018, and Nov. 26, 2018. Here's a detailed look at how Paul gets and spends his PAC money.

RANDPAC reported $524,126in contributions. Of that, $470,626, or 90 percent, came from people, and only 10 percent from political action committees.

Of the money he got from people, more than a third came from small donors whose names do not have to be reported to the Federal Election Commission.

The larger donors listed in the report come from all over at least 41 states, plus a donor from the United Kingdom and one from Switzerland.

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Only 5 percent of the money from the identified donors came from Kentuckians.

RANDPAC spent $645,258 during the period.

Of that, 87percent or $560,008 was spent on what is officially reported as operating expenses.

Another $20,000 payment the largest single disbursement it made in 2018 was to a different Paul political committee called Freedom for All Americans, which FEC records show was formerly named "Rand Paul for President" and still carries debts that exceed its cash on hand.

That left 10 percent ($65,250) for contributions to other politicians.

The PACs operating expenses included at $96,323on travel and at least $32,236on food and drink expenses.

Last week the PAC amended several of its 2018 reports after the Courier Journal asked questions about omitted details in its original reports regarding where certain expenses were incurred.

Consider this: Mitch McConnell spends most of his PAC money on Republican candidates

Travel expenses included: $3,618.89 paid to the Ritz Carlton,Chevy Chase, Maryland; $2,577.20 to the Royal Palms Resort,in Phoenix; $1,809.60 to the Stanford Park Hotel, Menlo Park, California; $1,604.42 at the Grand Summit Hotel, Park City, Utah; $1,085.62 at the Balboa Bay Resort, Newport Beach, California; $889.32 at the Mirror Room, in London; $678.27 to Royal Horseguards Hotel, in London; $441.35 to Scottsdale Plaza Resort, Paradise Valley, Arizona; and $375.18 to the Naples Park Central Hotel, Naples, Florida.

Some travel expenses, at least $14,200, were for travel by Paul's wife, Kelley Paul. Paul's spokeswoman, KelseyCoopermsaid, "Kelley Paul is an active surrogate for Sen. Paul and RANDPAC, and she often travels both with and without the senator for events such as fundraisers, conferences and other activities supporting RANDPAC's mission."

Travel expenses also included 393 payments to Uber Technologies, totaling $10,206.36.

Read this: Sen. Rand Paul says the free market pushed him to Canada for surgery

Big food and drink bills included $9,254.50 at North Beach Restaurant, San Francisco; $4,441.28 at Maggianos, (a chain based in Dallas but with locations in many cities); $3,346.81 at the Caffe Molise, in Salt Lake City; another $1,343.58 tab at Maggianos;$921.95 at The Palm Too, in New York City; $904.14 at the Capital Grille,in Washington; $627 at the Tiburon Golf Club, in Naples, Florida; $426.84 at Richardsons Cuisine of New Mexico; and seven tabs at Washingtons Dubliner Restaurant totaling $1,260.65.

The largestoperating expense during the period was$132,000 paid to Douglass Stafford, for political strategy consulting. The PAC also covered expenses for other consultants, data entry, computer software, phone service, advertising, office supplies, printing and postage.

The PAC paid $935 to Nationals Park for tickets to the Congressional Baseball Game.

As for the big travel, food and drink costs, Cooper said, "Sen. Pauls fundraising and political events take him all over the country, and indeed parts of the world. These are common expenses for fundraising events. Like with any nonprofit, you have to spend money to raise money.

Cooper said many such expenses were "large donor dinners with some dinners including several dozen people in attendance."

See also: Lobbyists made big bucks to influence Kentucky legislators last year

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Rand Paul donors: Kentucky Senator ... - courier-journal.com

Douglas Christian/ZUMA Press/NewscomSen. Rand Paul (RKy.) said yesterday he'll oppose the confirmation of William Barr, who President Donald Trump has nominated to be the next attorney general.

"I'm a no," Paul told Politico yesterday. "He's been the chief advocate for warrantless surveillance of U.S. citizens. I think that the Fourth Amendment should protect your phone calls and your bank information. People shouldn't be allowed to look at it without a warrant."

It's valid criticism. As the American Civil Liberties Union noted last month, Barr helped oversee a secret phone surveillance program when he led the Justice Department during the George H.W. Bush administration. For years, the feds collected phone records on calls made between people in the U.S. and those in countries connected to alleged drug trafficking activities. (For more on Barr's drug war, read Reason Senior Editor Jacob Sullum's column from December.)

This program would serve as a sort of precursor to the National Security Agency surveillance enabled by the PATRIOT Act following the 9/11 terror attacks. And while Barr was no longer working in the federal government by the time the PATRIOT Act was implemented, he still defended the program, which civil liberties advocates believe violated the Fourth Amendment's protections against warrantless searches. Testifying before the House Intelligence Committee in 2003, Barr even suggested the PATRIOT Act didn't go far enough.

Paul, for his part, has always been uneasy regarding Barr's nomination. "I'm concerned that he's been a big supporter of the PATRIOT Act, which lowered the standard for spying on Americans," the Kentucky Republican told Meet the Press in December. "And he even went so far as to say, you know, the PATRIOT Act was pretty good, but we should go much further."

"I can tell you, the first things that I've learned about him being for more surveillance of Americans is very, very troubling, Paul added.

Ultimately, Paul's opposition likely won't mean very much. Republicans hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate, and it's hard to imagine that two other GOP senators will betray their party and vote no. Also, Alabama Democratic Sen. Doug Jones has already said he will vote to confirm Barr. The full Senate will likely vote on the nomination this week, according to Politico.

Bonus link: Paul has long been one of the Senate's most ardent critics of the PATRIOT Act. Here he is discussing that issue and others with Reason's Matt Welch in 2015:

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Here's Why Rand Paul Will Vote 'No' on AG Nominee William ...