Russ Bellant

Russ Bellant (born 1949) is a journalist, political activist, and author. He was one of the founders of Public Eye Magazine and Political Research Associates.

Old Nazis, the New Right, and the Republican Party is the most controversial of Bellant's books and the most widely cited. Chris Simpson wrote in the preface, "This book presents some of the best new research into the seamy side of the 'Reagan Revolution.' Russ Bellant's careful dissection of the American Security Council Foundation and of certain Republican Party organizations clearly establishes that neo-fascist thinking is flourishing among some of the right-wing activists who today drape themselves in the American flag."[1]

The Harvard Educational Review calls Old Nazis, the New Right, and the Republican Party an important book "which exposes the roots and growth of domestic fascist networks."[2] Bellant interviewed Nikolai Nazarenko of the Cossack American Republican National Federation who proved all too willing to show his collection of Nazi memorabilia and anti-Semitic literature.[3]

In the same book Bellant documents Nazi involvement in the Ukraine; The Nation said "Bellant's exposure of émigré Nazi leaders from Germany's World War II allies in the 1988 Bush presidential campaign was the driving force in the announced resignation of nine individuals, two of them from Ukraine".[4] Former Office of Special Investigations director Allan A. Ryan called it, "Well-documented, and reliable".

Organizations dedicated to countering holocaust denial such as The Nizkor Project frequently cite Bellant's work.[5]

Bellant appeared as himself in the political documentary American Secrets[6]