Kentucky Senator Rand Paul made waves with both Republicans and Democrats when he named the whistleblower who originally accused US President Donald Trump of quid pro quo with Ukraine.
Speaking on the Senate floor on Tuesday, Paul made it clear he was still upset over Chief Justice Roberts refusing to ask a question from him last week regarding the whistleblower whose report kicked off the current impeachment trial.
“The presiding officer declines to read the question as submitted,” Roberts told Paul after reading the question to himself.
Paul took his time speaking on Tuesday as his opportunity to finally ask his question, inquiring if Schiff was “aware” of reports that one his staffers had allegedly had conversations with the whistleblower about impeaching the president long before any allegations of quid pro quo were made. He said the whistleblower’s name in his question, though he did not specifically identify him as one.
Paul stood next to a sign with the text of his question, which also named the whistleblower. Though Democrats have worked to protect the identity of the man, he has been named numerous times on social media and in news reports.
Despite the identity being an open secret already, the faux outrage was still in full display from Trump critics with Paul being labeled a “traitor” and even being accused of trying to get the whistleblower killed.
“This is just a malicious attempt to get someone killed, so that @RandPaul can combine his hatred of the intelligence community with a nice opportunity to suck up to Donald Trump,” author Tom Nicholas tweeted.
Katie Phang, a legal analyst for MSNBC, warned that Paul’s “reckless” behavior “won’t go unnoticed.”
Other veiled threats were sent Paul’s way, including some recalling the infamous assault by Paul’s neighbor, which led to the senator losing part of his lung.
CNN legal analyst Jennifer Rodgers claimed Paul put the whistleblower “in danger.”
Paul was also accused of breaking the law and calls for his arrest were made.
Technically, Senator Paul did not name any whistleblower, as his question did not identify anyone as such – instead, Chief Justice Roberts refusal to answer the question appeared to do just that. Ironically, in the heat of their excitement of going after Republicans, the critics have also confirmed the open secret they were pretending so hard was still hidden.
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