Rand Paul calls for investigation into Dem senators who wrote letter to Ukraine last year

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is calling for an investigation into three Democratic senators who are accused of threatening to withdraw aid from Ukraine last year if the country did not cooperate with Robert Mueller's investigation.

When asked by NBC "Meet the Press" host Chuck Todd on Sunday whether he is "disturbed" by Rudy Giuliani's role in the Ukraine scandal, Paul highlighted how Democrats have also allegedly meddled in Ukraine.

"I think what's interesting about this is both sides seem to be doing the same thing. If anything is consistent here, it's that both parties have tried to involve themselves in Ukraine," Paul said. "So for example, four (sic) senators, Democrats, wrote a letter to the Ukrainian government and said, 'If you don't keep investigating Trump we may reconsider our bipartisan support for your aid.' Both parties seem to be doing this."

The Kentucky senator went on to say:

Here's the thing, if you're going to condemn Trump you need to condemn the Democrat senators. It shouldn't be just one-sided. Everybody's going after President Trump.

Someone needs to actually, in an objective way, evaluate a letter from four Democrats that said to Ukraine, "If you don't keep investigating Trump we will reconsider our bipartisan support for aid." That's a threat. And that's the same kind of stuff they're accusing Trump of. But nobody's talking about that the Democrats are doing exactly the same thing.

When asked again if he is "comfortable" with Giuliani's actions, Paul said the Hunter Biden story — that Biden earned $50,000 per month working for a Ukrainian natural gas company while his dad was vice president — "doesn't pass the smell test."

"And I hope we do get to the bottom of it," Paul said.

The letter that Paul referred to — sent by Sens. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) in May 2018 — expressed Democrats' "great concern" that Ukrainian officials might not cooperate with then-special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference and the Trump campaign.

Since the Ukraine scandal became a national story, Trump allies, such as Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), have asserted the letter threatened to withhold aid from Ukraine if they did not investigate Trump.

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On "Fox & Friends" Monday, Paul doubled down on his call for an investigation into the senators.

"We can't have two standards," Paul said. "Democrats get to threaten Ukrainian aid and nothing happens to them. Now they want to impeach a president over this?

"It sounds like the Democrats have done exactly the same thing they're accusing the president of doing," he told Fox News.