Sen. Rand Paul says a defamation suit may be appropriate for fellow Sen. Charles E. Schumer after comments about President Trump’s children.
The Kentucky Republican made the comments Tuesday while speaking to Fox News about Senate impeachment proceedings against Mr. Trump.
At issue is the New York Democrat’s suggestion that Mr. Trump’s children may be parlaying their White House ties into profitable business ventures.
“You know, I’m offended and shocked that Schumer would be so scurrilous as to accuse the president and his children of making money illegally off of politics when the only people we know have made money off of this have been Hunter Biden and Joe Biden,” Mr. Paul said, the Daily Caller reported. “So Hunter Biden makes a million dollars a year, that’s documented, but Schumer simply creates and makes up and says, ’Oh, maybe the president’s kids are making money.”
Mr. Trump’s critics maintain that he should be impeached for allegedly tying military aid to Ukraine with investigations of former Vice President Joseph R. Biden and his son Hunter, who held a lucrative position with Burisma Holdings during the Obama administration.
The president and his defenders counter that regardless of any possible reservations about giving Ukraine lethal military aid, it was allocated without condition.
“The only people we know who have actually made money?” Mr. Paul said. “Hunter Biden and now [former National Security Adviser] John Bolton. And they’re not objective — John Bolton is not objective in any way now that he’s cashing million-dollar checks. To have Schumer come up and say out of the blue, ’Maybe the president’s kids are making money,’ with no evidence at all, that’s defamation and they ought to sue him.
“There is nothing in the record about the president’s kids,” he continued. “So Schumer has just created this whole thing out of whole cloth and said, ’Oh, why don’t we go after the president’s kids?’ We don’t know yet whether or not the president’s dealings with the Chinese president have something to do with the Trumps making money.’ He just made it up! Completely made it up!”
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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