Chief Justice John Roberts blocked Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul from posing a question during the Senate impeachment trial Wednesday that would have named the alleged whistleblower at the center of the case.
Paul is reportedly angry and may try to force the issue during the question-and-answer session that begins Thursday afternoon.
Paul has complained that he is being prevented from asking a question about the origin of the Ukraine investigation, although he didn’t get into specifics with reporters on Wednesday evening.
“It’s still an ongoing process, it may happen tomorrow,” Paul told reporters.
ROBERTS HAS VAGUE AUTHORITY
Roberts receives the questions in note cards from senators, then reads the question aloud in the Senate chamber to be answered by either House Democratic managers or Trump’s defense team.
Fox News has learned Roberts may soon lose his grip on the proceedings amid a torrent of criticism both inside and outside the Senate.
He is taking sides by allowing Democrats to say anything they want and criticizing both parties when the President’s team defends him.
Roberts is censoring senators and Senate business. Initially, Roberts attempted to block even general questions of the intelligence community whistleblower. When Republicans threatened a vote rebuking Roberts on the record, Davis reported, Roberts backed down and decided only to prohibit mentioning the whistleblower’s name.
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“I don’t want to have to stand up to try and fight for recognition,” Paul shouted, according to reporter Niels Lesniewski, who noted that Paul’s complaint was “audible from the galleries above the chamber.”
“If I have to fight for recognition, I will,” Paul said.
Paul wants testimony from the whistleblower on the record and he might not relent on this point. There is no protection for whistleblowers beyond retaliation in the workplace.
Paul last year called for subpoenaing the “whistleblower,” whom he named as Eric Ciaramella, to testify about his coordination with Schiff’s office.
OPINION
Roberts, under the Constitution, presides over the impeachment trial. But it’s not clear what power he does have over the proceedings. However, there is NO reason constitutionally or legally for Roberts to block the whistleblower’s name, other than it’s his opinion. His opinion matches that of Democrats and he’s inflicting rules on the Senate body which seem to overstep his authority.
Roberts announced from the bench that he will not mention the whistleblower’s name. Politico says Paul is annoying Republicans. What about Democrats and whose side are they on?
The whistleblower isn’t even a whistleblower. He has no first-hand information and is a gossip and a leaker.
Democrats want to give Roberts the power to approve witnesses. That can’t fly.
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