Sen. John Kennedy wishes President Trump would ease off of Twitter after the president posted the name of the alleged whistleblower, Eric Ciaramella, last week.
On Thursday, Trump retweeted a post that included a link to the Washington Examiner’s story about Ciaramella’s relationship with Rep. Adam Schiff. The president also retweeted and then deleted a post that named Ciaramella directly.
Kennedy explained that, while he wants the whistleblower to be named, it has not yet been confirmed that Ciaramella is the whistleblower. The Louisiana Republican still believes that the whistleblower, once confirmed, should be brought in for testimony as a fact witness to the events surrounding the impeachment.
“I don’t know who the whistleblower is. Number two, I think we ought to follow the law. Number three, there have been some allegations in the press about the identity of the whistleblower. If those statements are true, one of the thoughts I had was that, well, the whistleblower could easily be called by the defense. Not as the whistleblower, but as a fact witness,” Kennedy explained.
Ciaramella, 33, is a career CIA analyst who was the Ukraine director on the National Security Council during the end of the Obama administration. He stayed in the agency as acting senior director for European and Russian affairs under Trump for a brief time. He currently works as a deputy national intelligence officer for Russia and Eurasia on the National Intelligence Council. Ciaramella has ties to both Joe Biden and Democratic California Rep. Adam Schiff.
The senator also noted that he wishes Trump would show some restraint on Twitter when it comes to issues such as protecting the whistleblower.
“With respect to what the president tweeted, well, I have enough trouble paddling my own canoe. But I do agree with Mrs. Trump that — and I’ve suggested before to the White House that if the president would tweet a little bit less, it wouldn’t cause brain damage,” said Kennedy, adding, “But the president does not have to take my advice nor do I expect him to.”
Kennedy, 68, has been one of Trump’s strongest supporters in the Senate since the impeachment was first considered by the House. As he referenced, the senator has had his fair share of controversial remarks throughout the impeachment process, including his decision to call House Speaker Nancy Pelosi “dumb” during a Trump campaign rally.
Source Article from https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/gop-senator-asks-trump-to-tweet-a-little-bit-less-after-he-posted-name-of-alleged-whistleblower
Comments