Tag: rand paul

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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GOP Senator Threatens To Block Spending Bill If Hemp THC Product Ban Stays In, Sources Say

A GOP senator is threatening to hold up a major spending bill unless changes are made to provisions that would currently ban most consumable hemp products, which stakeholders say would decimate the industry.

Multiple sources familiar with discussions around the legislation tell Marijuana Moment that Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) is intent on preventing the outright ban that was included in the Senate’s agriculture appropriations bill that advanced out of committee and now awaits floor action.

The prohibitionist organization Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) Action sent out an alert to its supporters on Friday, urging them to contact their representatives to push back against Paul’s efforts.

“The United States Senate is poised to overwhelmingly pass legislation banning hemp intoxicants, but Kentucky Senator Rand Paul is holding the bill hostage until he kills the hemp language,” it said. “Senator Paul wants to create a carve out for THC products like hemp beverages, in effect legalizing marijuana federally.”

While one source indicated that the senator was primarily focused on creating a carveout for hemp-derived THC beverages, two others who are aware of the conversations told Marijuana Moment that wasn’t the case. The exact scope of what Paul is aiming to achieve is unclear, but they say the senator is seeking a more holistic change to the controversial hemp language in the bill.

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Rand Paul Says he will Reissue Criminal Referral of Autopen Pardon Recipient Anthony Fauci to Trump DOJ Amid New York Times Confirmation that Fauci Pardon was Not Approved by Biden

Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) announced on Monday that he will once again submit a criminal referall of Dr. Anthony Fauci to the Deparment of Justice after the New York Times reported that White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zeints approved of Dr. Fauci’s pardon. 

Previously, Rand Paul referred Fauci to the Department of Justice for prosecution, following his testimony on the NIH’s role in funding gain-of-function research at the Wuhan lab in 2021.

As The Gateway Pundit reported, the New York Times also reviewed some of the emails that the National Archives handed over to the Trump DOJ as part of their investigation into the autopen scandal and confirmed that Fauci’s pardon was not approved by Biden. Rather, “White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zeints actually approved pardons for Dr. Fauci and others on January 19,” they report.

“Biden did not individually approve each name for the categorical pardons that applied to large numbers of people, he and aides confirmed,” the Times reported.

Joe Biden told the New York Times that he “orally granted all the pardons and commutations issued at the end of his term” and lashed out at President Trump as a “liar” for claiming the autopen was used without his authorization.

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