- The Washington Times - Friday, October 4, 2019

Sen. Rand Paul said a CIA whistleblower’s accusations against President Trump are so serious that stepping forward is the right thing for that individual to do.

The Kentucky Republican told an audience of local leaders this week that circumstances surrounding the complaint regarding Mr. Trump’s phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky are such that anonymity does the nation a disservice.

“Ultimately, if someone’s going to accuse you of something that’s going to bring down a presidency, I think we deserve to know who that person is,” Mr. Paul said Tuesday, a local NBC affiliate reported. “Our criminal justice system is usually predicated upon: if I accuse you of something, I’ve got to show up in court and accuse you of it. So, I think there are reasons to have whistleblower statutes and have anonymity. If you’re accusing somebody of something with the ramifications of impeachment, I think really the person ought to come forward.”

Prominent Democrats maintain that it was an impeachable offense for Mr. Trump to ask the Ukrainian leader to investigate former Vice President Joseph R. Biden, his political rival, and an abandoned prosecution into Burisma Holdings, where Mr. Biden’s son Hunter sat on the energy company’s board. They also are questioning why congressionally approved money for Ukraine was delayed.

Mr. Trump has denied any wrongdoing.

“[Joe] Biden went around bragging that he stopped the prosecution,” Mr. Trump said. “See if you can look into it. … It sounds horrible to me.”

Mr. Paul said that efforts to impeach Mr. Trump would ultimately be seen as “a partisan thing.”

“I don’t think it’s going to go anywhere,” he told the station. “I do think that one of the things that’s been lost in all of this is: Do we really want to listen to all of the president’s phone calls? Should we be listening to all of the president’s phone calls? And should we then be making them public because we disagree with something he said in the phone call?”

• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.

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