Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) said something spot-on about this anti-Trump clown, though it was during a hearing that ironically was not about the president or the Russian collusion hoax. It was about cryptocurrency, and Kennedy was defending Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY). Richard Painter is a notable anti-Trump commentator and Russian collusion hoax peddler. He thought Trump was a Russian agent—we don’t need to relitigate this nonsense.
Painter accused Gillibrand of being bought off by the crypto bros, which did not sit well with Kennedy. He called on Painter to apologize, later calling him a total "whack job," which is when things went off the rails.
🚨This witness got VERY defensive when Senator Kennedy read his X post.
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) July 9, 2025
"You're a WACK JOB!"
This exchange got TENSE. pic.twitter.com/8btrQPRLZB
ENJOY! Sen. John Kennedy Vs. Dr. Richard Painter 🌶️ pic.twitter.com/not6DK4UA7
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) July 9, 2025
While this was a great exchange, the basis for the hearing was establishing a framework for cryptocurrency regulation (via Axios):
The hearing Wednesday was to discuss a Senate market structure bill, one that would establish a legal framework for broad U.S. crypto regulation.
The House's version, CLARITY, runs more than 200 pages and gets detailed about which kinds of assets are subject to the jurisdiction of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission or the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The big picture: The question now is how detailed the Senate's version will get, versus how much rulemaking power it will leave for regulators in the name of fostering innovation.
"I hear you saying that digital assets are different," Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) said to the industry representatives on the hearing's panel. "Digital assets need special rules. I agree with that.
"The obvious question is, what should those rules be, and to what extent should we allow you to draft them?"
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