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WASHINGTON (AP) — Some Republicans in Congress are taking steps to reject donations they received from the leader of a white supremacist group called the Council of Conservative Citizens.
According to The Guardian newspaper, Earl Holt made $65,000 in donations to Republicans, including several to presidential candidates.
The suspect in the Charleston church murders, Dylann Roof, cited Holt's group as being among his influences in a racist manifesto he had purportedly written.
The paper reported that one of the presidential candidates, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, will return the $8,500 he received.
The Guardian also reported that Holt donated to presidential candidates Rand Paul and Rick Santorum. Both Paul and Santorum's campaigns said today they would donate the money received from Holt to a fund set up by Charleston's mayor to assist the victims' families.
A spokesman for Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake says Flake is donating the $1,000 he received to that fund.
In a statement posted online, Holt said it's "not surprising" that Roof credited his group for teaching him about black-on-white crime. But Holt says the group is "hardly responsible for the actions" of what he calls a "deranged individual," and that it doesn't condone illegal activities.
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