Photos of Kentucky Senator Rand Paul's career in politics

Sarah Ladd | Louisville Courier Journal

The hashtag #ArrestRandPaul started trending Thursday after the Kentucky Republican walked out of the Senate because Chief Justice John Roberts wouldn't read his impeachment question.

Sen. Paul's question during the impeachment trial proceedings of President Donald Trump had to do with "whether or not individuals who were holdovers from the Obama National Security Council and Democrat partisans conspired with Schiff staffers to plot impeaching the President before there were formal House impeachment proceedings," he said in a tweet Thursday.

When Roberts blocked his question, Paul walked out of the Senate and read it aloud to reporters behind a podium before tweeting it out. Paul has named the alleged whistleblower before and has repeatedly urged that the tipster be outed publicly.

The whistleblower's identity has not been revealed or verified publicly, which is why The Courier Journal and USA TODAY are not publishing the person's alleged name.

After he tweeted the alleged tipster's name Thursday, the hashtag #ArrestRandPaul started trending nationally alongside other related tags.

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"Anybody who doesn’t speak out against Rand Paul outing the #Whistleblower in an interview today, may as well have done it themselves. Sometimes it’s what you fail to say that speaks louder than anything you’ve ever shouted from the rooftops. #ArrestRandPaul," one Twitter user wrote.

Another retweeted Paul's tweet explaining his question and wrote, "he does not know the identity of the whistleblower but is saying the name of a man he assumes to be, putting that man's life at risk with no concrete evidence! #ArrestRandPaul if ANYTHING happens to that man!"

A third tweeted, "When you have a criminal POTUS who you believe is above the law, you're obviously more inclined to think *you're* above the law. The actions of Rand Paul prove this. The GOP no longer has a moral compass as to what is right and wrong. #ArrestRandPaul and hold him accountable."

Along with #ArrestRandPaul, #dershowitzlogicm #wewantwitnessess and #TrumpsDNA were trending nationally.