Florida Sen. Marco Rubio is criticizing the Justice Department for “leaking” information in the wake of a recent shocking report that said files pertaining to a country’s nuclear weapons were among the documents FBI investigators collected from Mar-a-Lago.
Rubio was unimpressed by a fresh allegation in the Washington Post that the cache includes nuclear papers classified much beyond a top secret level. Rubio has previously downplayed the issue of goods housed at Mar-a-Lago as “a storage argument.”
Such information is often kept in a safe, specially designed facility with compartments.
The vice head of the Senate Intelligence Committee said that investigators were attempting to fabricate a “story” in an effort to influence political outcomes.
“These individuals deliberately release material every single day that, by the way, cannot be refuted or in any way assessed for a purpose.” And that’s politics to sway the story,’ Rubio said on Fox & Friends.
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio accused the Justice Department of ‘strategically leaking information’ about its investigation of classified materials found at Mar-a-Lago
The Florida Republican defended Trump, who has called the FBI raid part of a ‘witch hunt’ against him, when Fox News host Steve Doocy asked about the latest revelations. The interviewer told the senator: ‘That doesn’t seem like the kind of thing you should have in your post-presidential desk drawer.’
‘First of all, again, we really don’t know, because let’s go back and understand that all of this information is coming from one side in one place. And that is sources with knowledge of the investigation or who are the sources of knowledge of the investigation, the FBI and the Justice Department and they are leaking to the media,’ Rubio said.
The Post article cited ‘people familiar with the search’ to discuss the reported nuclear information – after the former president dismissed earlier reports about nuclear information as a ‘hoax.’
An FBI photograph of the search released last week revealed how some of the documents were clearly marked classified – but sparked allegations of a smear against Trump
President Donald Trump has called the raid part of a ‘witch hunt’ against him
FBI agents raided Mar-a-Lago August 8, and found 100 classified documents that had not been returned, according to DOJ
Rubio accused the Justice Department, which is led by AG Merrick Garland, of trying to create a ‘narrative’
Rubio was told by interviewer Steve Doocy nuclear information doesn’t sound like something ‘you should have in your post-presidential desk drawer’
The report came after a federal judge in Florida ruled Monday in favor of Trump’s request for a ‘special master’ to review documents for potential executive privilege – and put the FBI’s investigation on hold pending the matter.
The Justice Department has yet to say whether it will appeal.
Rubio, a member of the ‘Gang of Eight’ lawmakers who get access to top level security briefings, then asked why investigators didn’t brief Democrats and Republicans on its investigation of Trump.
The group also includes the Senate majority and minority leader, the Speaker, key security committee leaders, and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.
‘Never once were we ever approached and told there is this massive brewing counterintelligence threat to the United States and we want to make you aware of it,’ Rubio said.
Rubio also commented on an exchange of letters between National Archives lawyers and Trump’s representatives, claiming the Archives didn’t demand the immediate return of the material.
‘But what you see in there is very early on the government sent a letter to Trump’s lawyer basically saying, We think you are in possession of X number of boxes. It didn’t say immediately return those to us. It said please store them somewhere where they’re safe behind lock and key and the like. So it was really that sort of an urgent problem,’ Rubio said.
A May 2021 letter to Trump’s lawyers from a National Archives lawyer asked for the return of material being held at Mar-a-Lago.
‘But it is absolutely necessary that we obtain and account for all presidential records,’ reads the letter from the agency’s chief counsel, Gary Stern, the Washington Post reported last month.
The FBI said it seized 100 classified documents during its August 8 raid, more than twice the 38 classified documents that a Trump lawyer provided to investigators when they visited Mar-a-Lago in June.
It also found 184 classified documents in 15 boxes that Trump returned after being pressed by the National Archives.
Trump himself bashed the FBI after a court filing revealed agents also removed his medical and tax information. ‘Days of the Soviet Union!’ he wrote on his Truth Social site.