“Senator Paul, you do not know what you’re talking about, quite frankly, and I want to say that officially. You do not know what you’re talking about.”
— Dr. Anthony Fauci, quoted by NBC News, after being accused by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) of lying about research done in China on coronaviruses.
“Rand Paul is at it again,” Politico reports.
“The Kentucky Republican is objecting to swift passage of the annual defense policy bill, effectively forcing senators to remain in Washington for an extra day as he filibusters the $740 billion legislation.”
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) “acknowledged that he is holding up a bill with broad bipartisan support that would make lynching a federal hate crime, saying he fears it could allow enhanced penalties for altercations that result in only ‘minor bruising,'” the Washington Post reports.
“Paul’s objection halted a measure that appeared on the verge of getting to the president’s desk earlier this year after more than a century of stymied attempts by Congress to pass anti-lynching legislation. And it comes amid a nationwide convulsion over the treatment of black Americans by law enforcement officers.”
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) responds to those criticizing him for not self-quarantining:
“For those who want to criticize me for lack of quarantine, realize that if the rules on testing had been followed to a tee, I would never have been tested and would still be walking around the hills of the Capitol. The current guidelines would not have called for me to get tested nor quarantined. It was my extra precaution, out of concern for my damaged lung, that led me to get tested.”
A spokesperson for Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) tweeted that the senator will “insist” on asking his question which was denied yesterday and reportedly includes the name of the whistleblower.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) appeared on The View to promote his new book, The Case Against Socialism, but it didn’t go so well.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) called into KTWO to discuss his feud with Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) and said that he thought Wyoming Republicans were in agreement with him on foreign policy issues like the Afghanistan war.
Said Paul: “I really think that the Western Republicans, the one that I’ve met in Wyoming and the ones I’ve met throughout the West, are very, very independent. They’re tired of spending $50 billion a year in Afghanistan. They’re tired of building roads in Afghanistan. They’re tired of $45 million gas stations in Afghanistan and $90 million hotels. I think a lot of people in Wyoming would rather see that money spent at home.”
Sen. Rand Paul announced that he is recovering from a surgery to treat injuries from his 2017 assault, Roll Call reports.
Said Paul: “Unfortunately, I will have to limit my August activities. Part of my lung damaged by the 2017 assault had to be removed by surgery this weekend.”
Comedian Jon Stewart blasted Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) on Fox News for his objection to a bipartisan bill to ensure a compensation fund for victims of the 2001 terrorist attacks never runs out of money.
Said Stewart: “Pardon me if I’m not impressed in any way by Rand Paul’s fiscal responsibility virtue signaling.”
He pointed out that Paul supported President Trump’s tax cut that “added hundreds of billions of dollars to our deficit.”
“Over a round of golf this past weekend, Sen. Rand Paul asked President Donald Trump’s blessing for a sensitive diplomatic mission,” Politico reports.
“Paul, best known in the Senate for his isolationist foreign policy views, proposed sitting down with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif to extend a fresh olive branch on the president’s behalf. The aim: to reduce tensions between the two countries. Trump signed off on the idea.”
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) told ABC News that Robert Mueller’s Russia probe is an argument against special prosecutors.
Said Paul: “I think since the very beginning this has been politically motivated and now both sides are doing it. It goes back to the Clintons.”
“Only Congress can declare war. You do not have our permission to go to war with Iran.”
— Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), quoted by CBS News, to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) “blocked a resolution calling for special counsel Robert Mueller’s report to be released to Congress and the public,” Axios reports.
“This is the 5th time that Republicans — led by Paul and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell — have blocked the resolution, which passed unanimously in the House last month. Paul has argued in favor of an amendment calling for the release of communications between Obama-era intelligence officials that he says could shed light on potential “misuse of power” leading up to the launch of the Trump-Russia investigation.”
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) was awarded more than $580,000 in damages and medical expenses in his lawsuit against the neighbor who tackled him and broke several of his ribs in a dispute over lawn maintenance, the AP reports.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), “one of the fiercest political critics of socialized medicine, will travel to Canada later this month to get hernia surgery,” the Louisville Courier-Journal reports.
“Paul, an ophthalmologist, said the operation is related to an injury in 2017 when his neighbor, Rene Boucher, attacked him while Paul was mowing his lawn. The incident left Kentucky’s junior senator with six broken ribs and a bruised lung.”
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) “has defended President Trump on some of his most controversial moves, going against the prevailing sentiment of the libertarian movement with which he and his father, former Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), have long been identified,” The Hill reports.
“Some of the most libertarian-leaning members of Congress, such as Sens. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) and Ben Sasse (R-NE), and Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI), have served as forceful critics of Trump within the GOP. But Rand Paul, who prefers the mantle of constitutional conservative to libertarian, has repeatedly offered Trump a stirring defense.”
Sen. Rand Paul (R-NY) said that he was “honored” to deliver a letter from President Trump to the administration of Russian President Vladimir Putin during his trip to Moscow this week, NBC News reports.
“Many folks think that Rand Paul can’t be beat, they’re worried he might be too well-liked. I don’t buy that. Just ask his neighbor. He can be beaten.”
— Kentucky Secretary of State Allison Lundergan Grimes (D), quoted by WHAS-TV.
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Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
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