Did CIA fund Bin Laden?

There is a wide belief that the CIA funded Bin Laden during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) recently repeated the claim. Many studies dispute this, and in fact there is no evidence the claim is true.  It makes a great sensational statement, but technically it is false.  I say technically because the US did fund the Afghan resistance fighters, many of whom later became part of the Taliban that provided refuge for Bin Laden, but Bin Laden himself received no assistance as a Saudi who traveled to Afghanistan to resist the occupation.