- The Washington Times - Sunday, February 7, 2021

If the new impeachment standard is inflammatory speech, then Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer should be the next in line after former President Trump, as far as Sen. Rand Paul is concerned.

The Kentucky Republican on Sunday blasted House Democrats for bringing an article of impeachment against Mr. Trump for “incitement of insurrection” while ignoring the incendiary comments of Mr. Schumer and other Democrats, calling it a “partisan farce.

“I opposed the notion, which I think was a misguided notion, of voting to overturn the election, either with Congress or with the vice president,” said Mr. Paul on “Fox News Sunday.” “But I think if we are going to criminalize speech and somehow impeach everybody who says, oh, go fight to hear your voices heard, really we ought to impeach Chuck Schumer then.”

He cited Mr. Schumer’s March 4 rally in front of the Supreme Court in which the Democrat said that Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh would “pay the price” if they ruled against abortion access, prompting a rare rebuke from Chief Justice John Roberts, who called his comments “dangerous.”

“He [Schumer] went to the Supreme Court, stood in front of the Supreme Court, and said specifically, hey Gorsuch, hey Kavanaugh, you’ve unleashed a whirlwind, and you’re going to pay the price,” said Mr. Paul.

As a result, “if people want to hold President Trump accountable for language, there has to be a consistent standard, and to my mind it’s a partisan farce because they’re not doing anything to Chuck Schumer, not doing anything to Rep. Omar, not doing anything to Maxine Waters.”

Mr. Paul also said he thought there was “zero chance” that Mr. Trump would be convicted, which requires a two-thirds vote of the Senate.

The Trump defense team is expected to play a video at the Senate impeachment trial starting Tuesday of incendiary Democratic behavior, including Rep. Maxine Waters, California Democrat, urging her supporters at a 2018 rally to harass Trump administration figures in public.

“It’s just not fair. It’s just partisan politics under a different name,” said Mr. Paul.

In 2019, Rep. Ilhan Omar, Minnesota Democrat, retweeted a post from comedian Tom Arnold lauding the neighbor who attacked Mr. Paul while he mowed his lawn, breaking six of his ribs. The neighbor, Rene Boucher, was sentenced to eight months in prison for the 2017 assault.

“You’ll probably see comments from Rep. Omar wishing and celebrating the violence that happened to me when I had six ribs broken and part of my lung removed,” Mr. Paul said. “I think you’re going to see all of this, and people are going to have to judge for themselves, are we going to impeach and potentially criminally prosecute people for political speech when they say, get up and fight for your country, let your voices be heard?”

Mr. Trump, who left office Jan. 20, stands accused of inciting the Jan. 6 rioting at the U.S. Capitol. He could be barred from holding future political office if convicted.

• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.

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