Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul named the alleged whistleblower Eric Ciaramella and called for him to testify as part of the impeachment hearings.
During a Wednesday interview on Washington, D.C.-based WMAL, Paul was asked about a controversial remark he made last week when he called for the press to name the whistleblower but refused to do so himself. On Wednesday, Paul named Ciaramella and said he should be brought in to clarify whether he is indeed the whistleblower.
“I think Eric Ciaramella needs to be pulled in for testimony, and then I think it will be ultimately determined at that point,” said Paul. “But I think he is a person of interest in the sense that he was at the Ukraine desk when Joe Biden was there when Hunter Biden was working for the Ukrainian oligarch. So simply for that alone, I think he’s a material witness who needs to be brought in.”
Ciaramella, a 33-year-old career CIA analyst, was identified by RealClearInvestigations as the whistleblower, though that has not yet been confirmed. As Paul noted, Ciaramella worked under Barack Obama as Ukraine director on the National Security Council and briefly as acting senior director for European and Russian affairs under the Trump administration.
The Washington Examiner reported that Ciaramella now works as a deputy national intelligence officer for Russia and Eurasia on the National Intelligence Council and reports to the director of national intelligence. He had a close relationship with Biden during the Obama administration, even attending a State Department banquet with him in 2016. Paul asserted that Congress should be asking Ciaramella about his relationship with the Bidens.
“I think the whistleblower needs to come in because he needs to be asked about, did he know about the conflict of interest?” said Paul. “He was there during the time of Joe Biden and Hunter Biden working for $50,000 a month for a Ukrainian oligarch, so he needs to be asked about that.”
Paul said he also wants answers about Ciaramella’s ties to the Democratic Party and Rep. Adam Schiff, whose staff knew about the whistleblower’s report before it was filed.
