Sen. Rand Paul (R., Ky.) earned $209,502 in royalties from his books last year, the Louisville Courier-Journal reported Tuesday, citing a recently released federal disclosure form.
Paul has written four books since 2010, the most recent of which is 2015's Our Presidents and Their Prayers: Proclamations of Faith by America’s Leaders.
The junior senator from Kentucky, who dropped out of the race for the Republican presidential nomination two days after a disappointing finish in the Iowa caucus in February, has faced criticism for plagiarism. Passages in his books were reported to have been lifted wholesale from sources including the Heritage Foundation and the Wikipedia entry for the film Stand and Deliver.
Numerous quotations from the Founding Fathers in his work have been shown to be fabrications. Paul has brushed aside criticism of accuracy in his work as "idiocy."
According to the Courier-Journal, Paul has also invested in silver. His father, the former Texas Republican congressman Ron Paul, recently told MSNBC that silver "looks pretty good."
