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Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a scathing rebuke to those who supported allegations that President Donald Trump colluded with Russia to win the 2016 election.
Speaking on the “Brian Kilmeade Show,” Rubio claimed the widely circulated allegations were part of a larger disinformation campaign effort funded by political opponents.
“This dossier was a piece of campaign disinformation. It was paid for by political campaigns,” Rubio alleged Thursday.
“It is a huge outrage because it was fake. It was a lie. And they used it to mislead the American public. It cost millions of dollars in investigations, all chasing a hoax,” he added.
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His comments came shortly after National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard released documents alleging the Obama administration politicized intelligence around the 2016 election.
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Rubio, who previously chaired the Senate Intelligence Committee, said his own investigation into the matter found “zero, zilch proof” that the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia. However, some Democrats have accused him of trying to rewrite the findings, which did confirm evidence of “Russian meddling.”
“We can say, without any hesitation, that the Committee found absolutely no evidence that then-candidate Donald Trump or his campaign colluded with the Russian government to meddle in the 2016 election,” Rubio wrote in a statement on the investigation in 2020.
“What the Committee did find, however, is very troubling. We found irrefutable evidence of Russian meddling.”
Rubio pushed back against Democratic lawmakers who linked him to Trump-Russia collusion claims, calling them “dishonest” and accusing them of conflating his remarks about Russia’s actions with the question of whether President Trump was involved.
Gabbard’s newly released documents have been referred to the Justice Department and the FBI to determine whether they have criminal implications. However, many Democratic lawmakers have expressed disappointment with her allegations.
Sen. Mark Warner, the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, posted on X: “It is sadly not surprising that DNI Gabbard, who promised to depoliticize the intelligence community, is once again weaponizing her position to amplify the president’s election conspiracy theories.”
President Trump also weighed in, calling his predecessor the “ringleader” of the Russia investigation.
A spokesperson for former President Obama, dismissed the claims as “bizarre” and a “weak attempt at distraction.”
Rubio also criticized the media for what he described as a lack of interest in reporting the recent developments.
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“You had some of the highest-level officials in our intelligence agency in the country taking that fake, ridiculous dossier and using it to influence and inform an official intelligence assessment of what happened in this campaign,” Rubio said.
“The media is either uninterested or too lazy to understand those nuances and that reality.“
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On the subject of Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine, Rubio said the administration is running out of patience with President Putin.
“What bothers the president the most is he has these great phone calls where everyone sort of claims, you know, we’d like to see this end if we could find a way forward,” Rubio said. “Then he turns on the news and another city’s been bombed.”
He added that the U.S. is exploring new ways to move peace talks forward, but warned that Trump’s patience is wearing thin.
On Tuesday, Trump set a 10-day deadline for Putin to agree to a ceasefire deal, or face new, harsh sanctions.
“So far, there’s not been what we feel, at least, sincere interest on the Russian side in achieving that objective,” said Rubio. “But obviously, the president’s not going to wait forever.”
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