Linking to a report that named CIA officer Eric Ciaramella as the Ukraine whistleblower, Republican Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul called on members of the House of Representatives to subpoena him.
Citing a Wednesday report by RealClearInvestigations, the GOP senator said the whistleblower’s ties to Joe Biden necessitated questioning about Hunter Biden’s role on the board of Ukrainian energy firm Burisma.
“It is being reported that the whistleblower was Joe Biden’s point man on Ukraine,” Paul said in a Thursday tweet, linking to the report. “It is imperative the whistleblower is subpoenaed and asked under oath about Hunter Biden and corruption.”
The Washington Examiner reported on Oct. 10 that the Ukraine whistleblower was a career CIA officer with deep expertise in Ukraine policy who had been on the White House National Security Council during the Obama administration and subsequently the Trump administration.
Paul’s tweet was later shared by the president’s elder son Donald Trump Jr.
It is being reported that the whistleblower was Joe Biden’s point man on Ukraine. It is imperative the whistleblower is subpoenaed and asked under oath about Hunter Biden and corruption. https://t.co/qsOwZ4H2IN
— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) October 31, 2019
Asked on Wednesday whether Ciaramella was the whistleblower, attorneys representing him told the Washington Examiner they would not comment on their client’s identity. “We neither confirm nor deny the identity of the Intelligence Community Whistleblower,” Mark Zaid and Andrew Bakaj said.
Ciaramella, a career CIA analyst, worked in the Obama White House as Ukraine director on the NSC and remained in his post after Trump was sworn in. He was also briefly the acting senior director for European and Russian affairs.
Trump supporters have lambasted Ciaramella, a registered Democrat, via social media, accusing him of orchestrating a partisan plot to bring down Trump. Refrring to the Wednesday report, conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh said Thursday: “Federal documents reveal that the 33-year-old Ciaramella, a registered Democrat held over from the Obama White House. Why the hell was he still there? What do you mean, ‘held over’?” Limbaugh also noted Ciaramella’s reported connections to Joe Biden and former CIA Director John Brennan as potential problems in the credibility of someone thought to have ignited the impeachment process against Trump.
Several House Republicans have demanded the whistleblower to come forward and participate in the investigations into Trump’s relationship with Ukraine and his notorious July 25 phone call. “The question I keep coming back to is why we don’t know who this individual is,” Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan said ahead of closed-door testimony by the House Intelligence Committee in October. “He has a right to protection, that is what the whistleblower statute says,” Jordan said. “It does not say anonymity.”
