Tag: rand paul

Rand Paul Slams Alcohol And Marijuana Interests Over Federal Hemp Ban, Announcing He’ll File A Bill To Reverse It Next Week

A GOP senator says he’ll be filing a bill next week to protect the hemp industry from an impending federal ban on most cannabinoid products. He’s also calling out alcohol and marijuana interests for allegedly “join[ing] forces” to lobby in favor of the prohibitionist policy change, which will restrict access to a plant and its derivatives that are often used therapeutically—including by members of his Senate colleagues’ families.

In an interview on “The Chris Cuomo Project” podcast that was posted on Thursday, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) previewed his plan to push back against the hemp ban that was included in major spending legislation President Donald Trump signed into law last week.

Paul has been sounding the alarm for weeks about the potential consequences of the hemp recriminalization provisions, which he says would cause mass job losses and a $25 billion industry to be “wiped out.”

As he previewed during a separate webinar organized by the Kentucky Hemp Association on Wednesday, the senator told Cuomo that he intends to introduce legislation next week that would make it so state policy regulating hemp cannabinoid products—with basic safeguards in place to prevent youth access, for example—”supersedes the federal law.”

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Was COVID Always A CIA Plot?

According to newly released emails, the United States Intelligence Community, led by the CIA and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, held regular meetings with Dr. Ralph Baric, one of America’s leading coronavirus experts, since at least 2015. 

Senator Rand Paul’s office has worked for years to obtain the documents. 

Baric has been accused of engineering the Covid-19 virus in his lab at the University of North Carolina, but he has never had to testify about his role in the pandemic despite his well-documented collaboration with the Wuhan Institute of Virology. 

The newly released emails reveal that the CIA hoped to discuss “Coronavirus evolution and possible natural human adaptation with Baric” and that Baric held quarterly meetings with members of the Intelligence Community. 

These emails are just the latest additions to the suspicious amalgamation of facts implicating the US Intelligence Community’s role in the origins of the pandemic, as discussed in The Covid Response at Five Years.

A very brief overview of the timeline suggests that the CIA and the Intelligence Community are implicated in the creation of the virus, a lab leak at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, and censorship to evade any public scrutiny for their role in the pandemic. 

  • 2015: The Intelligence Community held quarterly meetings with Dr. Ralph Baric and discussed “possible human adaptation” to coronavirus evolution. 
  • 2019-2020: The CIA had a spy working at the Wuhan Institute of Virology doing “both offensive and defensive work” with pathogens, according to Seymour Hersh. That asset reports in early 2020 that there was a laboratory accident that resulted in the infection of a researcher. 
  • March 18, 2020: The Department of Homeland Security replaced Health and Human Services as the lead Federal Agency responding to Covid, as explained in depth in Debbie Lerman’s The Deep State Goes Viral. 
  • Spring 2020: The CIA offered bribes to scientists to bury their findings refuting the “proximal origin” theory advanced by Dr. Anthony Fauci, according to a whistleblower. The House Oversight Committee explains: “According to the whistleblower, at the end of its review, six of the seven members of the Team believed the intelligence and science were sufficient to make a low confidence assessment that COVID-19 originated from a laboratory in Wuhan, China.” Then, however, the “six members were given a significant monetary incentive to change their position.”
  • 2020: Dr. Fauci began holding secret meetings at CIA headquarters “without a record of entry” in order to “influence its Covid-19 origins investigation,” according to a whistleblower. “He knew what was going on…He was covering his ass and he was trying to do it with the Intel community,” the whistleblower told Congress.”
  • 2021: Scientists in the Department of Defense compiled significant evidence suggesting Covid emerged from a lab leak, but President Biden’s Director of National Intelligence, Avril Haines, banned them from presenting their evidence or participating in a discussion on the origins of the virus.
  • 2021: CISA, an agency within the Department of Homeland Security, implemented a program known as “switchboarding,” where officials dictated to Big Tech platforms what content is permissible or prohibited speech. 
  • 2022: The Department of Homeland Security announced it will establish a “Disinformation Governance Board.” The Ministry of Truth is only discontinued when the absurdity of its chief censor, Nina Jankowicz, receives sufficient blowback from the public.

What exactly was the play here?

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US senator accuses Trump of ‘silence’ on huge Ukraine corruption scandal

US Senator Rand Paul has accused President Donald Trump of staying silent on a major corruption scandal involving a close associate of Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky.

Last week, Ukrainian anti-corruption agencies alleged that Timur Mindich, Zelensky’s former longtime business partner, led a scheme that siphoned $100 million in kickbacks from contracts with the country’s nuclear power operator Energoatom, which depends on foreign aid. Two government ministers have since resigned, while Mindich fled the country to evade arrest.

“Remember when the Ukraine first Uniparty opposed my call for an Investigator General for Ukraine? Trump silent on $100M Ukraine corruption scandal resignations,” Paul wrote on X on Saturday, commenting on a news story about the affair.

Paul, who frequently attacks what he calls “wasteful spending” of American taxpayers’ money on foreign projects, has repeatedly pushed for a watchdog to supervise funds directed to Ukraine “in order to detect and prevent waste, fraud, and abuse.”

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Senate Advances Hemp Product Ban—But GOP Senator Has Last-Ditch Plan To Fight Back

A congressional spending bill containing a hotly contested ban on hemp products with THC has cleared a procedural Senate vote, teeing up consideration of final passage, expected within days. But one GOP senator has a plan to strike the provision, industry stakeholders tell Marijuana Moment.

The Senate agreed to advance the minibus appropriations package in a 60-40 vote on Sunday, with a handful of Democrats joining all but one Republican to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to the legislation amid the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.

Hemp advocates and stakeholders have strongly condemned the hemp language as currently included in the package, warning that its provisions would effectively eradicate the market that’s evolved since the crop was federally legalized under the 2018 Farm Bill.

One of the industry’s most active supporters, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), isn’t planning to cede the issue easily.

According to two hemp industry stakeholders, the senator is pressing for a vote on an amendment to strike the re-criminalization language—or else block leadership’s plans to advance the overall legislation on a rapid basis, which could delay the process of ending the ongoing federal shutdown for days.

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Senator Rand Paul OBJECTS TWICE to Senator John Kennedy’s Proposal to STOP Congressional Pay During Schumer Shutdown

Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) objected twice to Senator John Kennedy’s (R-LA) proposals that would have blocked members of Congress from receiving pay during the ongoing government shutdown, legislation Kennedy says is necessary to make lawmakers feel the same pain as the Americans affected by Washington’s dysfunction.

Kennedy introduced his “No Shutdown Paychecks to Politicians Act”, calling for an immediate halt to congressional pay during the shutdown and the elimination of back pay once government funding is restored.

Kennedy argued that his proposal is both simple and fair, emphasizing that federal employees like air traffic controllers, military service members, and staffers are already suffering without pay. His bill, he said, would ensure lawmakers are not shielded from the same financial consequences.

Kennedy asked for unanimous consent to immediately pass his bill, but Rand Paul was quick to object.

Paul, reserving the right to object, said the focus should be on re-opening government and paying those who are working, not punishing members of Congress.

Paul argued that withholding pay from lawmakers distracts from the larger problem of bureaucratic dysfunction and the unfair treatment of federal workers who are continuing their duties during the shutdown.

He even proposed an alternative, the Shutdown Prevention and Pay Workers Act, which would ensure essential government workers, including the military, are paid during any future shutdowns.

Kennedy rejected Paul’s amendment, accusing him of derailing a bill that could actually pass both chambers and be signed into law.

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Rand Paul: It’s Odd We’re Not Charging Survivors from Boat Strikes for Drug Crimes

On Wednesday’s broadcast of Newsmax TV’s “Rob Schmitt Tonight,” Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) stated that when there are survivors of the strikes on what the Trump administration alleges are drug boats, “we don’t try them for drug crimes or we don’t even keep them. We’ve been sending them back.” And “We have no evidence of who they are, other than an accusation that they are drug dealers.”

Paul said, “It’s interesting that, as the boats have been exploded, and as we’ve used this deadly force, when there are survivors, we don’t try them for drug crimes or we don’t even keep them. We’ve been sending them back. So, we repatriated, last week, somebody to Colombia and somebody to Ecuador. So, you would think that, when there are survivors, that they would be tried for a drug crime.”

He continued, “You would think we would be hearing evidence that they’re collecting drugs that are floating around in the water afterwards. You would think we’d hear evidence that the people were armed. So, we don’t know their names. We have no evidence of who they are, other than an accusation that they are drug dealers. But we also, in our country, haven’t typically just killed people because we accuse them of being a drug dealer.”

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Sen. Rand Paul Slams Strikes on Boats in Caribbean as ‘Extrajudicial Killings’

Senator Rand Paul blasted President Donald Trump’s strikes on alleged drug traffickers as unconstitutional and illegal. 

“A briefing is not enough to overcome the Constitution. The Constitution says that when you go to war, Congress has to vote on it. … The drug war, or the crime war, has typically been dealt with through law enforcement,” Paul said on Fox News Sunday. “And so far they have alleged that these people are drug dealers … and we’ve had no evidence presented. So at this point we would call them extrajudicial killings.” 

So far, the Department of War has bombed ten boats it claims are smuggling narcotics into the US. Nine of the strikes have been on vessels in the Caribbean, against alleged cartels linked to Venezuela. The White House has not provided evidence that the ships were carrying drugs. 

“So far, they have alleged that these people are drug dealers. No one said their name. No one said what evidence. No one said whether they’re armed. And we’ve had no evidence presented,” Paul said.

One survivor of a strike was released by Ecuador, finding he was not engaged in wrongdoing when the boat was attacked. One family member said a victim of a US strike was a fisherman, and not working for a cartel. 

Trump has discussed expanding the strikes into Venezuela and has given the CIA approval to conduct lethal operations against cartels. Secretary of State Marco Rubio claims that Venezuelan President Maduro is the leader of a cartel designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. 

If Trump elects to expand the war, he told reporters that he will brief Congress on the plans. He went on to say he did not have to discuss the matter with the Legislator and has not sought a Declaration of War. 

The Constitution explicitly grants Congress the authority to Declare War. However, the principle of preventing the President from unilaterally declaring war has been eroded over time. Congress has not declared war since World War 2 II. The last Authorization for Use of Military Force was passed in 2002 for the Iraq War. 

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Rand Paul Dismantles Ex-CDC Chief in Brutal Senate Showdown

Ex-CDC Director Dr. Susan Monarez testified today before the Senate HELP Committee in a desperate attempt to smear RFK Jr.’s name and build pressure for him to resign.

But things didn’t go according to plan. Senator Rand Paul wasn’t about to let that happen. After Monarez got a few softball questions from Bernie Sanders and others, Paul stepped in with the tough ones.

He started with the basics—asking if the COVID vaccines actually stop transmission.

PAUL: “Does the COVID vaccine prevent transmission?”

MONAREZ: “The COVID vaccine can reduce viral load in individuals who are—”

PAUL: “Does it prevent transmission?”

MONAREZ: “When you have reduced viral load… you will have reduced transmission.”

PAUL: “But in other words, it DOESN’T prevent transmission. You can still transmit the virus if you’ve had the vaccine.”

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Paul: Gay CDC official’s ‘lifestyle’ disqualified him from government

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said Tuesday that a gay leader at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) who resigned last week in protest of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had “no business being in government” due to the “lifestyle” he led.

Demetre Daskalakis, former director of the CDC’s Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, was among the four CDC leaders who resigned last week, saying in their resignations that the changes under Kennedy were preventing them from carrying out the agency’s public health mission.

“One of the guys that is the biggest proponent of doing all this is the guy who describes the risky behavior that he and his lifestyle involve,” Paul said when asked about the exodus in CDC leadership Tuesday evening, referring to Daskalakis.

Paul was discussing his opposition to infant vaccinations against hepatitis B when asked.

“A guy that is so far … out of the mainstream, I think most people in America would discount his opinion because of the things he said in the past. He does not represent the mainstream of anything in America,” Paul continued.

“He should have never had a position in government. And he brags about his lifestyle, you know, this whole idea of bondage and, you know, multiple partners and all that stuff. He brags about that stuff, but he’s got no business being in government. It’s good riddance.”

GOP Rep. Buddy Carter (Ga.) has also criticized Daskalakis for his personal life, calling him a “BDSM Satan worshipper” on CNN on Sunday.

Since resigning, Daskalakis has forcefully spoken out against Kennedy in the media, saying in an interview Sunday that he can “only see harm coming” from the secretary’s policies. He has specifically criticized actions by the Health and Human Services Department that limit access to mRNA COVID-19 vaccines.

In 2021, Daskalakis posed for the cover of Plus Magazine wearing a leather harness, an article of clothing popular among gay men and tied to the gay leather and BDSM communities. The cover and other posts Daskalakis made on social media have come under scrutiny in conservative media since his resignation.

Daskalakis came to wider public recognition when he led the CDC’s response to the 2022 mpox outbreak that primarily affected the social networks of men who have sex with men.

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Sen. Rand Paul SHUTS DOWN Ex-CDC Official Trashing RFK Jr. With a Single Statement

The man on the right is the CDC’s former immunization chief.

He quit his job over RFK Jr. — and now he’s on a media tour attacking him.

But Rand Paul just put him in his place with three simple sentences.

And it all started when the “scientist” on the right made a hysterical warning about the very first vaccine given to infants.

Meet Dr. Demetre Daskalakis.

He was the CDC’s director of immunizations until the Trump administration, with RFK Jr. leading HHS, fired CDC Director Susan Monarez after disagreements with Kennedy over vaccine policy.

Dr. Daskalakis immediately resigned. In his fiery resignation letter, he claimed that political interference was undermining science and endangering the public, warning, “Their desire to please a political base will result in death and disability of vulnerable children and adults.”

Since then, he’s been making media rounds, seizing every opportunity to attack RFK Jr.

For context, the hepatitis B vaccine was moved to the childhood schedule in 1991 after it failed to receive uptake among the targeted risk group, specifically, intravenous drug users and those who participate in risky sex.

Children engage in neither, and the hepatitis B vaccine provides protection for only about 6 to 7 years (estimates vary), raising serious questions about why this particular shot is pushed on children at birth.

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