Rubio on White House drama: "People got what they voted for"
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, said Sunday that "people got what they voted for" with the Trump presidency.
"I don't understand why people are that shocked," Rubio said on CBS News' "Face the Nation," following a tumultuous period for the Trump White House. "This president ran a very unconventional campaign. I was there for a big part of it at the beginning alongside being one of his competitors. And that's what the American people voted for. And in essence, you know, this White House is not much different from the campaign."
Rubio's comments come after two weeks of White House blunders for the Trump administration, leaving many in Congress questioning the future of the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
Rubio called much of the drama coming out of the White House "unique" and "different than anything we've confronted."
"We'll have to deal with these issues. These issues come up, these questions every single day. And I do think the White House would benefit from some systems in place that perhaps avoid some of the unnecessary friction points that come up on a daily basis. But this is also the political environment we now live in, too," Rubio said.
Last week, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed Robert Mueller to serve as special counsel in the investigation. The appointment came after both Democrats and Republicans called for a special prosecutor amid revelations of Mr. Trump's reported knowledge of Michael Flynn's dealings with Russian entities, and of details about a memo James Comey wrote that says Mr. Trump asked him to drop an FBI investigation into Flynn. Details of the memo emerged following Comey's firing.
"I think virtually everyone has full confidence that he's going to conduct a thorough and fair investigation and a look at all of these things and give answers. And we're now going to look at it and continue to look at it from a counter-intelligence perspective. And that's our job," said Rubio.
Mueller was appointed before reports emerged that Mr. Trump told Russian diplomats in a White House meeting that he fired "nut job" Comey to "relieve pressure" from the investigation.
Rubio said that "media reports that are out there raise questions and deserve answers."
"I told people earlier this week I had a conversation with the White House. People that were in that meeting, they denied that anything had been said in that meeting that could compromise sources, methods, or information with regards to intelligence," Rubio said.
Rubio added that White House officials were adamant that there were "no transcripts or notes" of the reported conversations that took place, but that he encouraged the White House to release whatever documents they have to members of Congress.
Comey has since agreed to testify in an open hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee. Rubio says he has questions for Comey, and that Americans deserve answers.
"Did in fact you keep memos? What do those memos say? And why did you write them? And what was your feeling? And the American public deserves to know the answers to that. I think that's fair to the president. I think that's fair to former Director Comey. And I think that fair to the country," added Rubio.