Sen. Rand Paul says no law can stop him from revealing the identity of the Ukraine whistleblower, whose complaint sparked impeachment proceedings against President Trump.
“There’s nothing that prevents me from saying it now, other than that I wanted to be more about the process and less about the person,” the Kentucky Republicans during an interview Tuesday. “There’s no law that prevents me from mentioning the name of who’s been said to be the whistleblower,” he added.
Paul, who claims to know the whistleblower’s identity, was speaking with Fox News anchor Bret Baier, who noted the speech and debate clause in the Constitution grants lawmakers wide-ranging immunity for things they say on the floor of Congress.
The whistleblower, whom the Washington Examiner has reported is a CIA analyst, was detailed to the National Security Council. The official filed a complaint in August about Trump pressuring Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a July phone call to investigate Joe Biden, who is running for president in 2020, in relation to his son Hunter’s business dealings in Ukraine. The revelation of this complaint sparked concerns about potential abuse of power and led to impeachment proceedings in the Democrat-controlled House.
Paul argued the whistleblower needs to answer questions as part of the proceedings. “I think he should be interviewed not as the whistleblower, but as a material witness to the Biden corruption in Ukraine,” he said.
Earlier, Paul told reporters he “probably will at some point” identify the whistleblower, which elicited a warning from the whistleblower’s legal team who say their client’s anonymity is afforded by the law.
“If he does, he will be personally responsible for anything harmful that happens. And let’s be clear, @RandPaul will be acting as surrogate for President Trump, making him just as responsible,” said attorney Mark Zaid.
Paul has also called on the media to out the whistleblower. At a rally Monday in Kentucky with Trump, the senator exclaimed, “I say tonight to the media, ‘Do your job and print his name!'”
But most news outlets have shown no appetite to publish the name, and those that had so far have no confirmation. Not even Fox News host Sean Hannity, an ardent Trump defender who claims to have “multiple confirmations” of the whistleblower’s identity, has uttered the name on-air.
“I’m not convinced his identity is important at this point, or at least important enough to put him at any risk, or to unmask someone who doesn’t want to be identified,” New York Times executive editor Dean Baquet told the Washington Post. “Pretty much everything has now been discussed or confirmed on the record, multiple times, by others in the administration. So I’m not sure I see the point of unmasking someone who wants to remain anonymous.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer denounced Republicans for making “despicable” demands for the whistleblower be identified. “The whole purpose of the whistleblower law was to protect people when they had the courage to come forward,” the New York Democrat said on Tuesday.
