Archive for the ‘Rand Paul’ Category

Rand Paul Conducts Diplomacy In Malta – The Liberty Conservative

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) is currently in the Maltese capital of Valetta, and has met with the President of the country, according to a report by Lovin Malta.

President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, of the center-left Labour Party, met with the Senator briefly earlier today. The President then shared some photos of her meeting with Sen. Paul on Twitter, including a photo of him signing the visitors book in the presidential residence.

It was truly a pleasure meeting Senator @RandPaul earlier today in Valletta pic.twitter.com/XyatkeLRyl

Marie-Louise Coleiro (@presidentMT) August 21, 2017

This is not Sen. Pauls first experience dealing with the Maltese. In May, he spoke at a reception hosted by the Maltese Ambassador in Washington, D.C., where he expressed his support for greater cooperation between the two countries and announced his decision to visit later that year.

The trip is notable as Sen. Paul is known for taking relatively few foreign trips compared to other U.S. Senators. He rejects using taxpayer funding for his trips as a matter of principle, so all his trips so far have been privately funded.The last time he reportedly had political meetings during an overseas trip was when he met with then-President of Guatemala Otto Perez Molina during a philanthropic visit in August 2014,

Although Malta is a small island nation with a population of just 400,000, it is a member of the European Union, and has played an important role in the EUs ongoing migrant crisis. It is located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Italy and war-torn Libya, and thus the Maltese Navy has often intercepted or rescued Arab and African boat migrants who were attempting to reach the European mainland.

Malta is currently formally neutral, but was a close ally of the United States during the Cold War, hosting a U.S. military base in the 1950s. The country made news last year when a group of Gaddafi loyalists hijacked a Libyan airliner and landed it in Maltas international airport, and Malta continues to pay an important role in assisting the United States with intelligence on the Libyan conflict.

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Rand Paul Conducts Diplomacy In Malta - The Liberty Conservative

Rand Paul: Obama may have spied on me, other lawmakers using …

Rand Paul: Obama may have spied on me, other lawmakers using NSA intercepts

WATCH | Sen. Rand Paul talks about allegations that President Obama spied on him

Sen. Rand Paul, the former Republican presidential candidate and vocal champion of civil liberties, has received allegations that the Obama administration sought intercepted intelligence from the National Security Agency on him and other members of Congress and has asked President Donald Trump to conduct a formal investigation, Circa has learned.

Paul quietly asked for the probe nearly a month ago in a letter to Trump that was obtained by Circa.

"An anonymous source recently alleged to me that my name, as well as the names of other Members of Congress, were unmasked, queried or both, in intelligence reports of intercepts during the prior administration," Paul wrote Trump in a letter dated April 10.

"In light of the revelations that the names of persons associated with the Trump campaign were unmasked, I

believe the allegations that myself and other elected members of the legislative branch may have also been unmasked or caught in intelligence gathering warrants investigation."

The emergence of the letter, which also was copied to White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and senior Trump adviser Steve Bannon, comes after Circa recently reported that members of Congress and their staffs have been unmasked in NSA intelligence reports as frequently as once a month since President Obama loosened privacy protections back in 2011.

Read Sen. Paul's letter to Donald Trump

Sen. Rand Paul tweets about the unmasking allegations.

Paul's letter offered no further detail on the source of the allegations of any specific incident or intercepts.

A source in the intelligence community told Circa on Friday that they were unaware of any unmaskings of NSA intercepts that occurred in 2016 when Paul was running for president that would have required a notification to Congress. The source did not know about prior years.

Usually if the intelligence community reveals the identity of a lawmaker in an NSA intercept, Congress gets what is known as a Gates notification.

Paul has been a critic of the government use of NSA intercepts to spy on Americans and championed other civil liberty causes, most famously conducting a 13-hour filllibuster in 2013 on the Senate floor to raise concerns that U.S. millitary could use drones to strike U.S. citizens on U.S. soil.

Rand Paul: Obama may have spied on me, other lawmakers using NSA intercepts

WATCH| News organization requests Trump declassify data on NSA unmasking of Americans.

Rand Paul: Obama may have spied on me, other lawmakers using NSA intercepts

WATCH | Republicans lawmakers say they are angry, but not surprised by a new report which shows U.S. intelligence included unredacted names of U.S. citizens in thousands of intelligence documents last year.

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Rand Paul: Obama may have spied on me, other lawmakers using ...

Rand Paul: Latest News & Photos – NY Daily News

Rand Paul is a U.S. Senator from Kentucky who is running for the 2016 Republican nomination.

Rand Paul, 53, is following in the footsteps of his father, former congressman andpresidential candidate Ron Paul. Despite what many thought could be a successful bid by building on his fathers campaigns in the last two cycles and strong Tea Party support, the younger Paulhasnt been able to break into the top tierof candidates.

Rand shares many of the libertarian views that his father is known for, but also has displayed differences that bring him closer to the mainstream of the Republican Party. He has also been known as one of thestaunchest opponents of the Patriot Act, which has both boosted and cost him support during his political career.

Prior to his time in the Senate, Paul worked as an ophthalmologist.

He is married to Kelley Paul. They have three children Robert, Duncan and William.

Rand Paul dropped out of the Republican presidential race on February 3rd, 2016.

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Rand Paul: Latest News & Photos - NY Daily News

Rand Paul pledges support for Mitch McConnell a day after Trump’s attacks – Lexington Herald Leader


Lexington Herald Leader
Rand Paul pledges support for Mitch McConnell a day after Trump's attacks
Lexington Herald Leader
U.S. Sen. Rand Paul said Mitch McConnell still has his full support a day after President Donald Trump vented his displeasure with the Senate majority leader several times. Paul, R-Bowling Green, said Trump directed his anger at the wrong person when ...
Opinion: Republican Party at critical crossroadsHickory Daily Record
Kaiser Health Tracking Poll August 2017: The Politics of ACA Repeal and Replace EffortsKaiser Family Foundation

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Rand Paul pledges support for Mitch McConnell a day after Trump's attacks - Lexington Herald Leader

Rand Paul: ‘Big Government’ Needs to Back Off of Hemp – WKU Public Radio

Hemp farmers and processors in Murray presented progress and problems in growing the crop to U.S. Senator Rand Paul on Thursday. Paul is in the region as part of a tour discussing healthcare options and made a stop in Murray to talk hemp ahead of visits to other communities. Afterwords, he also commented on North Korea and health care reform options.

Joseph Kelly operates West Kentucky Hemp LLC. and works with Kentucky 21st Century Agri. He led much of the presentation, briefing Paul on some of their processes and procedures, ambitions and challenges. Kelly and others involved in hemp described its various uses: leaves (producing CBD), floor material (buds) for extracting oil, seeds (as grain and pressed for oil) and other uses involving the fiber.

Farmers say regulations are the 'biggest problem' and much of that has to do with its listing as a federally-controlled substance.

Paul said regulations and 'big government' need to 'get out of the way' of the country's burgeoning hemp industry. He expressed dismay when farmers told him hemp couldn't be used as livestock feed.

"I don't like the idea that we would have to ask somebody in Washington for permission to feed the root of the plant to a chicken or a cow. I think things that God gave us and that grow on Earth really the government shouldn't be preventing you from feeding them to your livestock," Paul said.

Farmers handed Paul a bag of edible hemp seeds for humans imported from Canada and suggested with fewer regulations similar products could be produced in Kentucky. Paul says hemp restrictions make the U.S. less competitive and will seek to address issues in the next farm bill.

Following-up, Joseph Kelly said he is glad to hear Paul involved in hemp and willing to take a look at legislation. He felt Paul's biggest takeaway was the livestock issue, which he said is personally important for his farm and company.

Other topics discussed include trials for herbicides and banking and insurance issues.

Kelly said a processing facility is under construction nearby. He's also looking to expand his hemp crop from 700 acres to 940 acres. Once the processor is up an running, he said, he'll be looking to hire. Describing both the growing acreage and new processing, Kelly emphasized the possibility for job growth in the commonwealth as this could naturally magnify elsewhere. Pointing to hemp's versatility as a crop, Paul also suggested that hemp could be viable in areas of Kentucky that might not be as agriculturally abundant.

"I think hemp has been a step towards a brand new product that has nothing to do with marijuana and has a lot of value as a new crop for us," Paul said.

More about the hemp industry in Kentucky.

North Korea

Senator Paul said both the United States and North Korea should ratchet down the rhetoric and find a peaceful solution.

Paul is referring to rhetoric "in general" and not specifically President Donald Trumps recent fire and fury comments.

Paul said politicians should assure the North Korean regime that there is no desire to occupy or invade their country. He says when people are fearful of invasion there is a danger of an accident occurring.

If I could do anything I would say lets try to ratchet down the rhetoric. Lets try to ratchet down the fear and the bellicosity on both sides. And see if we can get to a peaceful solution," he said.

He said North Korea should be reminded that the U.S. is allied with South Korea and should they unleash an attack it would be the last thing they ever do. He also said the U.S. isnt interested in a preemptive attack and that war should be a last resort.

Health Care

Senator Paul said President Donald Trump could act unilaterally on changes to the health care system. Paul is touring Kentucky discussing efforts to expand group insurance options across state lines. He said he recently spoke with President Trump to consider taking action without new legislation.

We talked about letting people join groups like co-ops or association health plans and I believe that he can act unilaterally through presidential authority to expand the definition," Paul said.

As an example, he said, the National Restaurant Association - of more than 40,000 members - could be legalized to form a group to buy insurance as one body and negotiate a discount in prices. Paul says he believes Trump is very interested in this option.

He said he is disappointed that politicians who promised to repeal the Affordable Care Act went back on their promise but is holding out hope for other options. Three Republicans broke ranks and voted against a proposed Skinny Repeal of the ACA last month.

A bill expanding association health plans passed the House and is now in the Senate.

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Rand Paul: 'Big Government' Needs to Back Off of Hemp - WKU Public Radio