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Ron Paul, the libertarian former Texas congressman whose hard-line views are widely admired on the radical right but who claims to reject racism, has started a new organization stacked with a hodgepodge of far-right extremists.

As The Daily Beast reported, the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity is ostensibly designed to promote a discourse about U.S. foreign policy. But its advisory board is stacked with what writer James Kirchik characterized as 鈥渁 bevy of conspiracy theorists, cranks, and apologists for some of the worst regimes on the planet.鈥�

And just who are the far-right luminaries helping guide Paul鈥檚 new endeavor?

One is Lew Rockwell, Paul鈥檚 former congressional chief of staff who now heads the Ludwig von Mises Institute, an Auburn, Ala., think tank with deep ties to the . There鈥檚 Judge Andrew Napolitano of Fox News and journalist Eric Margolis, both 9/11 鈥渢ruthers鈥� who suspect that the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks may have been orchestrated by the government.

And alongside them sits Butler Shaffer, a Southwestern Law School professor who similarly once asked: 鈥淚n light of the lies, forgeries, cover-ups, and other deceptions leading to a 鈥榳ar鈥� in Iraq, how can any intellectually honest person categorically deny the possibility of the involvement of American political interest in 9/11?鈥�

But that鈥檚 not the worst of it, according to The Daily Beast.

鈥淎lso on Paul鈥檚 board are prominent former government officials who claim that American Jews constitute a 鈥榝ifth column鈥� aimed at subverting American foreign policy in the interests of Israel,鈥� Kirchick reported. One of those is Michael Scheuer, a former CIA intelligence officer who has accused a long list of individuals and organizations of 鈥渂eing intent on involving 300 million Americans in other people鈥檚 religious wars,鈥� The Daily Beast said.

Still another board member is Walter Bloch, a fellow at the Mises institute who The Daily Beast said 鈥渂elieves the wrong side won the 鈥榳ar against Southern secession鈥� and blames most of America鈥檚 current problems on 鈥榯he monster Lincoln.鈥欌��

Yesterday鈥檚 article wasn鈥檛 the first to note the affinity many extremists have for Paul. An article in in 2011, when Paul was running for president, noted that while white supremacists, survivalists and anti-Zionists had allied behind Paul鈥檚 campaign, he had not disavowed their support. Paul told the newspaper: 鈥淚f they want to endorse me, they鈥檙e endorsing what I do or say 鈥撯�� it has nothing to do with me endorsing what they say.鈥�

The controversy surrounding Paul鈥檚 new organization is reminiscent of past revelations. Paul has been accused of authoring a series of newsletters, written under his name, that Kirchik says 鈥渞eveal decades worth of obsession and conspiracies, sympathy for the right-wing militia movement, and deeply held bigotry against blacks, Jews and gays.鈥� When Kirchik first detailed those newsletters in 2008, Paul claimed that he had not written them and he had no idea who had. Kirchik says in his latest article that the newsletters, which ostensibly gave supporters 鈥減olitical news and investment advice,鈥� 鈥渘etted his family over $1 million per year.鈥�

The November 1990 issue of the Paul鈥檚 鈥淧olitical Report,鈥� for example, praised neo-Nazi and former Klan leader . A month later, an issue described the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. as a 鈥渨orld-class adulterer鈥� who 鈥渞eplaced the evil of forced segregation with the evil of forced integration.鈥� Also that year, as the Rev. Al Sharpton led efforts to rename New York City after King, Paul鈥檚 newsletter suggested possible alternatives including 鈥淲elfaria鈥� and 鈥淶ooville.鈥�

The vitriol ostensibly coming from Paul also targeted the LGBT community. A 1994 issue of the 鈥淩on Paul Survival Report鈥� asserted that people 鈥渨ho don鈥檛 get a blood transfusion, and who don鈥檛 swap needles, are virtually assured of not getting AIDS unless they are deliberately infected by a malicious gay.鈥�

The stated mission of the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity is to provide 鈥渢he tools and the education to chart a new course with the understanding that only through a peaceful foreign policy can we hope for a prosperous tomorrow.鈥� But with the revelation of who its principals really are, one can only wonder what that means.