Sen. Rand Paul (R., Ky.) faced charges of direct plagiarism on Monday. Additionally, he has had to explain in recent weeks how Wikipedia entries were incorporated into his speeches without attribution, the New York Times reports.
Buzzfeed's Andrew Kacyzinski first reported on the plagiarism accusations earlier this week. Paul is accused of appropriating language from an essay that appeared in the Week magazine and using it in an op-ed he wrote for the Washington Times. Writes the New York Times:
That article, written by Dan Stewart, an editor for The Week, included this sentence: "America now jails a higher percentage of its citizens than any other country, including China and Iran, at the staggering cost of $80 billion a year." It was posted to the web on Sept. 14.
On Sept. 20, Mr. Paul wrote this: "America now jails a higher percentage of its citizens than any other country, including China and Iran, at the staggering cost of $80 billion a year."
Mr. Paul’s article also mentioned a case involving a Florida man, John Horner, who was sentenced to a minimum of 25 years for selling painkillers. "John will be 72 years old by the time he is released, and his three young children will have grown up without him," Mr. Paul wrote.
Mr. Stewart’s version: "He will be 72 by the time he is released, and his three young children will have grown up without him."
Paul recited word-for-word Wikipedia entries in his speech last week.