White supremacist leader donated to Republicans

The head of a white supremacist group, cited by the suspected gunman who killed nine people at a black South Carolina church last week, has given thousands of dollars to several 2016 Republican presidential candidates.

Earl Holt III of Texas, leader of the Council of Conservative Citizens, has donated a total of $65,000 to Texas Senator Ted Cruz, former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum and Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, among other politicians in recent years.

Holt also donated to campaigns for other Republican lawmakers, including US Representative Steve King of Iowa, Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona. He has donated to former Minnesota congresswoman and presidential candidate Michele Bachmann of Minnesota.

Representatives for Cruz told the papers that his campaign would immediately return the $8,500 given by Holt.

Representatives for Paul did not respond to the newspapers’ request for comment, while a Santorum spokesman told the Guardian the candidate does not condone racism but did not address the donated funds.

According to the media reports, records show Holt, 62, lists himself as president of the group, which the suspect in the South Carolina shooting, 21-year-old Dylann Roof reportedly cites in a racist manifesto he appears to have written and that surfaced over the weekend.

Holt said he was not surprised that his group helped inform Roof but that it was “hardly responsible for the actions of this deranged individual.”

The Missouri-based Council of Conservative Citizens advocates “whites rights” and believes “the United States is a European country and that Americans are part of the European people.”