A section of Rand Paul's 2012 book Government Bullies appears to be plagiarized from a Forbes article from earlier in that year. BuzzFeed had previously reported that more than three pages plagiarized from The Heritage Foundation and Cato Institute were the only instances of copying in the book.
As was the case with cut-and-pasted sections from The Heritage Foundation and a Cato scholar, Paul included a link to the Forbes article in the book's footnotes, but made no effort to indicate that not just the source, but the words themselves, had been taken from Forbes.
The article related to the case of Steven and Cornelia Joyce Kinder, who owned a Kentucky-based caviar company and pled guilty to harvesting paddlefish in Ohio waters with intent to sell in Kentucky, in violation of the Lacey Act.
Here's how the Forbes article reads:
According to the plea agreement, both Steve Kinder and Cornelia Joyce Kinder admitted to aiding and abetting one another in harvesting paddlefish that they should have known were harvested in Ohio waters in violation of Ohio law through the use of gill nets attached to the Ohio shoreline, on or about May 5, 2007, and, thereafter, transporting the paddlefish to Kentucky with the intent to sell them when.
As part of a plea agreement, both Kinder Caviar and Black Star Caviar Company have each agreed to pay a $5,000 fine and serve a three-year term of probation, during which time those companies will be prohibited from applying for or receiving a CITES Export Permit.
Additionally, Steve and Cornelia Joyce Kinder have agreed to serve a three-year term of probation, during which time they will each perform 100 hours of community service, be prohibited from fishing anywhere in the Ohio River where that river forms the border between Ohio and Kentucky, and be prohibited from applying for or receiving a CITES Export Permit, either on behalf of themselves or anyone else. In accordance with Kentucky law, the Kinders face possible suspension of their Kentucky commercial fishing licenses.
Finally, as part of the plea agreement, the boat and truck that were used in furtherance of the Lacey Act crimes have been forfeited.
And here's now Paul wrote it, with the identical sections copied in bold:
The Justice Department's plea agreement stated that both Steve Kinder and Cornelia Joyce Kinder admitted to aiding and abetting one another in harvesting the fish. The agreement stated that they should have known these paddlefish were harvested in Ohio waters in violation of state law, through the use of gill nets attached to the Ohio shoreline. This happened on or about May 5, 2007, and thereafter the Kinders had transported the paddlefish to Kentucky with intent to sell them.
Now, if you're like me, obviously we are getting down on our hands and knees to thank our federal government for addressing this pressing matter. But it gets even more ridiculous. As part of a plea agreement, both Kinder Caviar and Black Star Caviar Company have each agreed to pay a $ 5,000 fine and serve a three-year term of probation, during which time those companies will be prohibited from applying for or receiving a CITES Export Permit.
Additionally, Steve and Cornelia Joyce Kinder have agreed to serve a three-year term of probation, during which time they will each perform one hundred hours of community service, be prohibited from fishing anywhere in the Ohio River, where that river forms the border between Ohio and Kentucky, and be prohibited from applying for or receiving a CITES Export Permit, either on behalf of themselves or anyone else. In accordance with Kentucky law, the Kinders also face possible suspension of their Kentucky commercial fishing licenses.
Finally, as part of the plea agreement, the boat and truck that were used in furtherance of the Lacey Act crimes have been forfeited.
Paul's office did not immediately return a request for comment on this instance but said Tuesday that "there have also been occasions where quotations or typesetting indentations have been left out through errors in our approval process." The Kentucky senator's office said that "a new approval process implemented by Sen. Paul will ensure proper citation and accountability in all collaborative works going forward."
Bill Singer, the author of the Forbes article, said "no, absolutely not," when asked if he knew the Senator used his work. He also noted that he relied heavily on a press release from the Justice Department. "It would appear whoever wrote the senator's book copied my language not the press release. Plagiarism is a very sincere form of flattery," he said.
Mr. Singer pointed out even the snide section of his article appeared similar Paul's book, but both men used different examples for their sarcasm about the government prosecution.
"Ain't it grand? The world is best by terrorism, civil war, earthquakes, tsunamis, and nuclear catastrophe but we still have time to go after alleged caviar bandits in the murky waters of Ohio and Kentucky," Singer wrote.
"We have a trillion-dollar deficit hole in our budget. We have bridges literally falling down and an infrastructure that is crumbling. We have a military that is stretched entirely too thin. We have a broken entitlement system, and a bunch of Washington "leaders" too scared or inept to do anything about it. We have a border so porous that illegal immigrants and terrorists alike could be coming across it at any moment. We are told it cannot be fixed because we don't have the manpower. Yet somehow, some way, we have the manpower and resources to prosecute people for the following major 'crimes,'" Paul wrote.
Center Street, the publisher of Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul's 2012 book, said Tuesday it will update future printings to include attribution to a Heritage Foundation case study and a report by a Cato Institute scholar.
"We are informed that the material used from the Heritage Foundation and the Cato Institute was used with permission, which was indicated in the source notes at the end of the book," said Rolf Zettersten, the senior vice president and publisher of Center Street. "To avoid any future misunderstanding, future printings will include the attribution in the narrative."
A speech on Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul's website was updated over the weekend to include footnotes linking to Wikipedia following reports by BuzzFeed, Politico, and MSNBC's Rachel Maddow the senator had plagiarized several speeches from the internet encyclopedia.
BuzzFeed also reported Monday several transcripts of Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul's speeches have disappeared from his website.