On Wednesday, during the Senate impeachment trial of President Trump, Sen. Rand Paul posed a question that would have named the alleged whistleblower, identified as CIA analyst Eric Ciaramella. Justice Roberts blocked the question. Paul may now try to force the issue, as reported by Fox News.
Roberts had initially sought to block even general questions of the intelligence community whistleblower, but amid threats of rebuke from Republicans on the record, he backed down, opting to only block the mention of Eric Ciaramella as the alleged whistleblower.
“I don’t want to have to stand up to try and fight for recognition,” Sen. Paul shouted, according to reports by Niels Lesniewski. Paul also said, “If I have to fight for recognition, I will!”
When Fox News asked Rand Paul if he will press the issue, he said, “TBD,” as in “to be determined.”
“Federal law protects whistleblowers only from retaliation in the workplace, and does not ensure their anonymity; and Republicans have disputed whether this particular whistleblower would even qualify for those limited protections, saying his complaint concerns a policy dispute and does not allege criminal or civil wrongdoing by the president,” reports Gregg Re.