Rand Paul blocks Senate push to protect Trump whistleblower

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Sen. Rand Paul on call to name Ukraine whistleblower

Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, Republican member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, joins Bret Baier on 'Special Report.'

Sen. Rand Paul, R.-Ky., on Wednesday blocked a resolution to reaffirm whistleblower protections, accusing Democrats of “selective outrage.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D.-N.Y., and Sen. Mazie Hirono, D.-Hawaii, made a unanimous consent request, meaning all 100 senators must agree with no objections, to adopt a resolution underscoring the importance of protecting whistleblowers.

"I support whistleblowers, and I do think they have a role to play in keeping government accountable ... but what we have seen over the last few years is that we have a system that we should continue to refine,” said Paul, as The Hill reported.

Paul suggested that Democrats drop their resolution and instead pass whistleblower legislation that he introduced earlier that day. Democrats did not oblige, so he objected to their bill.

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Paul said that his legislation would “make clear” that President Trump should be able to face the whistleblower whose allegations about a July 25 phone call with Ukraine's leader provided the underpinning for a House impeachment inquiry.

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“The bill I will introduce today will expand the whistleblower act [and] would be made retroactive so Edward Snowden can come home to live in his own country. All he did was expose that his government was not obeying the Constitution," Paul said.

Hirono said she had just received Paul’s bill and hadn’t gotten a chance to read it. Though she added she was “flabbergasted” by a provision in Paul’s bill that applied the Sixth Amendment right to a speedy and public trial to impeachment proceedings.

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Paul’s Senate maneuvers came after he repeatedly voiced a call for media outlets to reveal the name of the Ukraine-call whistleblower.

"I say to the media: Do your job and print his name," Paul reiterated on “Special Report with Bret Baier.” He tweeted on Oct. 31 calling for the whistleblower to be subpoenaed and asked under oath about Hunter Biden and corruption. (In the July 25 phone call in question, Trump is accused of pressuring Ukraine's leadership to investigate political rival Joe Biden, his son Hunter and their business dealings in that country.

Trump and his allies argue the president should be able to confront his accuser and know his or her political biases.

Asked Tuesday why he hasn’t disclosed who he believes to be the whistleblower, Paul told reporters he “probably will.”

"I'm more than willing to, and I probably will at some point," he said. "There is no law preventing anybody from saying the name."

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On Wednesday, Donald Trump Jr. tweeted a name he believes to be that of the whistleblower, but Fox News has not confirmed the whistleblower’s identity.