Sen. Rand Paul reacts to First Step Act and Michael Cohen comments

BOWLING GREEN, Ky.- Senator Rand Paul was in Bowling Green Friday.

The Republican hosted a holiday meet and greet at his office on State Street.

WNKY had the chance to speak with the Senator on a number of topics, including the First Step Act, legislation that would reform the nation’s criminal justice system.

Paul is a staunch proponent of the bipartisan bill.

After much hesitation, and pressure from President Trump, earlier this week, Senator Mitch McConnell said the Senate will vote on the bill before the end of the year.

“Most of the people in prison will get out someday,” said Paul. Do we want them to go back to doing drugs and crime? No. We’d like them to be good citizens again. About half the people in prison are there for non-violent drug crimes. I think a lot of those people really deserve a second chance.”

Another topic on Senator Paul’s mind today was Michael Cohen, who appeared on ABC News Friday morning and said President Trump directed him to buy the silence of two women during the 2016 campaign because he was concerned their stories of alleged affairs with him “would affect the election.”

“If you’re looking to put presidents in jail, I think we’ve become like these banana republics where every time someone gets voted out of office, they go to jail. Who is going to want to participate in government if we are going to criminalize everything about campaign finance. Hopefully, saner minds will prevail as we look at this over time,” said Paul.

Paul also told WNKY he supports border security but does not want to spend an excessive amount on a wall, which is an issue that could prompt a government shutdown in the week ahead.