Chief Justice John Roberts reportedly refused to read a question from Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) during the ongoing impeachment trial of President Donald Trump on Wednesday, because the name of the alleged whistleblower was included.

What are the details?

Politico reported that Paul has composed questions including the name of the whistleblower, despite Justice Roberts telling senators that he would not read the person's name out loud. According to the outlet, Paul had opened up a "behind-the-scenes fight" with his effort.

A Fox News reporter also reported the block by Roberts, and The Federalist added that "sources say Roberts, at Democrats' urging, had previously vowed to ban any questions about the whistleblower whatsoever, named or not."



Paul has called for the media to expose the alleged whistleblower for months, and several of his Republican colleagues joined him last fall in calling for the purported Obama holdover to testify.

"I think he is a person of interest in the sense that he was at the Ukraine desk when Joe Biden was there when Hunter Biden was working for the Ukrainian oligarch. So simply for that alone, I think he's a material witness who needs to be brought in," Paul said in November.

According to Politico, Paul "has complained that he is being prevented from asking a question about the origin of the Ukraine investigation, although he didn't get into specifics."

The Kentucky Republican told reporters Wednesday, "It's still an ongoing process, it may happen tomorrow."

Anything else?

RealClearInvestigations was the first outlet to name the purported whistleblower, who is reportedly a 33-year-old former intelligence operative.

The Washington Examiner reported that "Republicans and conservative media figures believe" the whistleblower is the person named by RealClearInvestigations, and TheBlaze's Giancarlo Sopo noted "Republicans are not entirely sure if the man in question is indeed the whistleblower."