Rand Paul Might Be Out of the Senate for a While Following Vicious Sneak Attack by Bernie Bro Neighbor; Possible Political Motivations?

Rand Paul is facing a "prolonged" absence from the Senate.

The attacker's lawyer claims this had nothing to do with politics.

A protracted convalescence away from Washington, D.C., for the Kentucky Republican could hinder the GOP legislative agenda, just as the party's effort to advance an ambitious tax bill gets under way. The GOP-controlled Senate also has a raft of nominees awaiting confirmation votes and other legislation that leaders are looking to pass. The party controls 52 seats in the Senate, already a slim majority, and GOP leaders are trying to pass the tax measure without Democratic votes.

According to an arrest warrant filed in a Kentucky court on Friday, at about 3:20 p.m., Mr. Paul’s next-door neighbor, Rene Boucher, came onto Mr. Paul’s property and tackled him from behind, knocking him to the ground.

"The unfortunate occurrence of November 3rd has absolutely nothing to do with either's politics or political agendas," said Matthew Baker, an attorney for Mr. Boucher. "It was a very regrettable dispute between two neighbors over a matter that most people would regard as trivial. We sincerely hope that Senator Paul is doing well and that these two gentlemen can get back to being neighbors as quickly as possible."

This NBC News article from 3:05 PM yesterday says that may be it did.

The two men had not spoken in several years and a rift between the pair possibly stemmed from Boucher's distaste for Paul's politics, as well as those of his father, former Texas Rep. Ron Paul, a source said.

Paul and Boucher also had a previous disagreement about a property line involving a creek behind the lawmaker's house where Paul's sons would sometimes play, the source added.

Well, if I had broken a Senator's ribs in a sneak attack, I think I'd claim my motives were other than attacking him because he's a Senator too. This law seems to make assaulting a member of Congress a federal crime as well as a state one.

posted by Ace at 05:39 PM

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