Chief Justice John Roberts again declined Thursday to read a question from Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) during the question-and-answer portion of President Trump's Senate impeachment trial.
The big picture: Paul attempted to include the alleged name of the Ukraine whistleblower in his questions on Wednesday, CNN reported. When beginning Thursday's proceedings, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell promised Roberts a "level of consideration" in reading the questions out loud — an apparent dig at Paul.
Our thought bubble, via Axios' Alayna Treene: The chief justice has attempted to remain an unbiased arbitrator throughout this process. His decision to shoot down Paul's attempts to publicly name the whistleblower on the Senate floor infuriated Paul, who then violated Senate rules by leaving the trial and holding a press conference, but were in line with McConnell and other top GOP leaders who were against revealing the whistleblower's identity.
