News Opinons Politics

Chief Justice Shuts Down Rand Paul’s Line Of Questioning on Alleged ‘Whistleblower’

Supreme Court Justice John Roberts on Wednesday blocked an attempt by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) to pose questions regarding the so-called “whistleblower” — the individual who sparked the House Democrats’ partisan impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump — according to reports.

Politico and The Hill state Roberts indicated he would oppose reading Paul’s questions, as it is believed he would be forced to name or provide identifying information on the alleged individual.

Speaking to reporters following a Republican dinner, Paul signaled he may still fight to have his question read.


“It’s still an ongoing process; it may happen tomorrow,” he told reporters.

However, other Senate Republicans, include Senate Majority Whip John Thune (R-SD), appear to have sided with Roberts over Paul.

“I don’t think that happens, and I guess I would hope that it doesn’t,” Thune said when asked if the so-called “whistleblower” will be named.

Roberts has not offered any legal argument for hiding the individual’s identity. As Breitbart News has repeatedly explained, the only statutory protection for people who submit whistleblower complaints is that the intelligence community inspector general (ICIG) cannot name him or her publicly:


UN nuclear watchdog says Iran nuclear site damaged in strikes
Justice Department’s new policy saves $1.6 million in taxpayer dollars previously spent on transgender procedures
Supreme Court blocks California ban on notifying students’ parents about gender transitions
Cornyn wants to work with Trump to fix ‘broken’ immigration system if reelected
BREAKING: US Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Hit by Multiple Iranian Drones
Markets Handle Iran Strikes Brilliantly as S&P 500 Has Biggest Intraday Recovery in 5 Months Finishing Positive for the Day
Trump sends official notification to Congress on strikes against Iran
Virginia Mom Allegedly Murdered by Illegal Alien with 30 Priors Only Weeks After Dem Governor Blocks ICE Cooperation
Department of Education Honors Charlie Kirk with Banner as Part of America’s 250th Birthday Celebration: ‘Heroes in American Education’
Watch: Responding to an ABC Reporter, Trump Just Issued the Coolest Wartime Quote in Presidential History – It’ll Never Be Topped
Iran Update: Trump Says Attack Is Moving Much Faster Than Expected With 1,200 Targets Hit and the Entire Iranian Navy Neutralized
Musk, xAI tout newest Grok update as only ‘non-woke’ platform: ‘Doesn’t equivocate”
Trump admin warned lawmakers Israel was ‘determined to act with or without us’ before massive Iran strikes
Tarot influencer’s claims in Idaho college murders case spark courtroom reckoning
New Jersey-bound United flight makes emergency landing at LAX after engine fire

Even left-wing mainstream media outlets—CNN, the New York Times, National Public Radio (NPR), and Reuters — determined that, certainly, no law prohibits President Donald Trump or members of Congress from disclosing the name of the leaker who sparked the impeachment inquiry.

Even Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA) confirmed this fact by reading a passage from the Washington Post into the record of the House impeachment hearings which states: “That appears to be the lone statutory restriction on disclosing a whistleblower’s identity, applicable only to the inspector general’s office. We found no court rulings on whether whistleblowers have a right to anonymity under the ICWPA or related statutes.”

See also  ‘We did not hear the truth from the president’: Spanberger squares up to Trump in State of the Union rebuttal

Further, Breitbart’s Senior Editor-at-Large Joel Pollak has written President Trump has a right under the Sixth Amendment to confront his accuser at a trial where he is the defendant. He explains: “even if the Chief Justice were to rule that it does not, the Senate can overrule him. If the president wants to call the whistleblower to testify, he will likely have to do so.”

In October, RealClearInvestigations published an individual’s name whom author Paul Sperry believes is likely the “whistleblower” — Eric Ciaramella, an analyst at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), who worked for the National Security Council under the Obama and Trump administrations.

During the Senate impeachment trial’s first day of questions, Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Mike Lee (R-UT) asked President Donald Trump’s legal team if House Intelligence Committee staffers and the “alleged whistleblower were employed by or detailed to the National Security Council during the same time period between January 2017 and the present? Do you have reason to believe they knew each other?”


UN nuclear watchdog says Iran nuclear site damaged in strikes
Justice Department’s new policy saves $1.6 million in taxpayer dollars previously spent on transgender procedures
Supreme Court blocks California ban on notifying students’ parents about gender transitions
Cornyn wants to work with Trump to fix ‘broken’ immigration system if reelected
BREAKING: US Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Hit by Multiple Iranian Drones
Markets Handle Iran Strikes Brilliantly as S&P 500 Has Biggest Intraday Recovery in 5 Months Finishing Positive for the Day
Trump sends official notification to Congress on strikes against Iran
Virginia Mom Allegedly Murdered by Illegal Alien with 30 Priors Only Weeks After Dem Governor Blocks ICE Cooperation
Department of Education Honors Charlie Kirk with Banner as Part of America’s 250th Birthday Celebration: ‘Heroes in American Education’
Watch: Responding to an ABC Reporter, Trump Just Issued the Coolest Wartime Quote in Presidential History – It’ll Never Be Topped
Iran Update: Trump Says Attack Is Moving Much Faster Than Expected With 1,200 Targets Hit and the Entire Iranian Navy Neutralized
Musk, xAI tout newest Grok update as only ‘non-woke’ platform: ‘Doesn’t equivocate”
Trump admin warned lawmakers Israel was ‘determined to act with or without us’ before massive Iran strikes
Tarot influencer’s claims in Idaho college murders case spark courtroom reckoning
New Jersey-bound United flight makes emergency landing at LAX after engine fire

See also  Richard Cox derails sex offender case, once again

The two Republican senators also asked if there is, “any reason to believe” that the so-called “whistleblower” and an Intelligence Community staffers “coordinated to fulfill their reported commitment to quote, ‘Do everything we can to take out the president,’ end quote?”

White House deputy counsel Patrick Philbin replied, “the only knowledge that we have, that I have of this, comes from public reports.”

“I gather there is a news report in some publication that suggests a name for the whistleblower, suggests where he worked, that he worked at that time while detailed of the NSC staff for then-vice president Biden and there were others who worked there,” Philbin added.

Later, Cruz, along with Sens. Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Jerry Moran (R-KS), asked if House Intelligence Committee Chairman and Lead Impeachment Manager Adam Schiff knew whether the alleged whistleblower worked “at any point for or with” former Vice President Joe Biden.

When it was Schiff’s turn to address the upper chamber, he claimed to not know who the “whistleblower” is or to have ever communication with him.

“I don’t know who the whistleblower is, I haven’t met them or communicated with them in any way,” he said.

However, as the New York Times reported, the “whistleblower” sought assistance from a House Intelligence Committee staffer with second-hand information regarding President Trump’s July 25 telephone all with Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelensky — the basis of a complaint later submitted to the intelligence community.

The House Intelligence Committee chair has repeatedly denied that his staff assisted the “whistleblower” in any capacity.

See also  Newsom book tour missteps expose national campaign ‘growing pains’

“The committee staff did not write the complaint or coach the whistleblower what to put in the complaint,” he stated, before decrying the accusations as a “conspiracy theory.”


UN nuclear watchdog says Iran nuclear site damaged in strikes
Justice Department’s new policy saves $1.6 million in taxpayer dollars previously spent on transgender procedures
Supreme Court blocks California ban on notifying students’ parents about gender transitions
Cornyn wants to work with Trump to fix ‘broken’ immigration system if reelected
BREAKING: US Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Hit by Multiple Iranian Drones
Markets Handle Iran Strikes Brilliantly as S&P 500 Has Biggest Intraday Recovery in 5 Months Finishing Positive for the Day
Trump sends official notification to Congress on strikes against Iran
Virginia Mom Allegedly Murdered by Illegal Alien with 30 Priors Only Weeks After Dem Governor Blocks ICE Cooperation
Department of Education Honors Charlie Kirk with Banner as Part of America’s 250th Birthday Celebration: ‘Heroes in American Education’
Watch: Responding to an ABC Reporter, Trump Just Issued the Coolest Wartime Quote in Presidential History – It’ll Never Be Topped
Iran Update: Trump Says Attack Is Moving Much Faster Than Expected With 1,200 Targets Hit and the Entire Iranian Navy Neutralized
Musk, xAI tout newest Grok update as only ‘non-woke’ platform: ‘Doesn’t equivocate”
Trump admin warned lawmakers Israel was ‘determined to act with or without us’ before massive Iran strikes
Tarot influencer’s claims in Idaho college murders case spark courtroom reckoning
New Jersey-bound United flight makes emergency landing at LAX after engine fire

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), one of the president’s staunchest defends against impeachment, accused Schiff of lying about his contacts with the “whistleblower.”

“Stunning that Adam Schiff lies to millions of Americans when he says he doesn’t know the identity of the whistleblower,” Stefanik wrote. He absolutely knows the identity of the whistleblower because he coordinated with the individual before the whistleblower’s complaint! His staff helped write it!”

Story cited here.

Share this article:
Share on Facebook
Facebook
Tweet about this on Twitter
Twitter