Marco Rubio Asked Point Blank If Leaked Chat Containing Strike Times Was 'Classified'

2 days ago

At a press briefing with Jamaican Prime Minister, Andrew Holness, on Wednesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio was asked about a leaked group chat that included the precise platforms and times of airstrikes on Houthi targets.

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Transcript

00:00Republican Congressman Don Bacon weighed in on the signal chat breach, saying the White

00:03House is, quote, in denial that this was not classified or sensitive data.

00:07They should just own up to it and preserve credibility.

00:09Do you think that's true?

00:11Also, here in Jamaica, there are USAID employees at our embassy, like so many others around

00:16the world, on administrative leave, not carrying out the work of the American people.

00:21Do you worry that the DOJ effort won't ultimately end up benefiting U.S. taxpayers?

00:27And Prime Minister, violence and instability remains in Haiti.

00:31What would you like to see from the United States in terms of being a productive force?

00:35And a State Department envoy yesterday called the presence of Cuban doctors in Jamaica and

00:41elsewhere human trafficking.

00:43Do you agree with that?

00:45Let me take the first.

00:46I mean, I've already addressed the aid one, but let me address it again.

00:49This is not about getting rid of aid.

00:51This is about restructuring how we're going to do aid.

00:53And when you restructure, there is some disruption, but it has to happen.

00:56By the way, this is not an idea – this is an idea Condoleezza Rice wanted.

01:00This is an idea multiple secretaries of state throughout time have tried to achieve.

01:04And we intend to achieve it because we think it makes all the sense in the world.

01:07So I recognize that there's disruption involved when you make reform and you make change,

01:11but it's necessary because our foreign policy and our foreign aid have to be aligned.

01:15Foreign aid is an instrument of foreign policy, okay?

01:18It is not global charity.

01:20Jamaica's not asking for charity.

01:21They're asking for development assistance so they can become stronger at their security

01:26needs and other things of this nature.

01:27That's what they're asking for.

01:28They're not asking for a handout.

01:29They're asking for a hand up, help to build their capabilities so that they become a self-reliant

01:34partner and, frankly, could end up – and already are – helping other countries.

01:38Jamaica now is contributing to the effort in Haiti, as an example.

01:41So these are the kinds of things we want to see in our foreign aid.

01:44So look, our goal was not to disrupt anyone's life.

01:47Our goal was to restructure the way we deliver foreign aid so that it is aligned with our

01:52foreign policy and with what we're trying to carry out at our respective missions around

01:56the world.

01:57On the first question, let me just say on the signal thing, this thing was set up for

02:01purposes of coordinating how everyone was going to call – when these things happen,

02:05I need to call foreign ministers, especially of our close allies.

02:08We need to notify members of Congress.

02:11Other members of the team have different people they need to notify as well.

02:14And that was the purpose of why it was set up.

02:16I can see someone made a mistake.

02:19Someone made a big mistake and added a journalist.

02:22Nothing against journalists, but you ain't supposed to be on that thing.

02:24So they got on there and this happened.

02:26I've been – so I can speak to myself and my presence on it.

02:30I think my role on it was – just speaking for my role, I contributed to it twice.

02:36I identified my point of contact, which is my chief of staff.

02:40And then later on, I think three hours after the White House's official announcements

02:45had been made, I congratulated the members of the team.

02:48I've been assured by the Pentagon and everyone involved that none of the information that

02:52was on there, though not intended to be divulged – obviously, that was a mistake and that

02:56shouldn't have happened and the White House is looking at it – but that none of the

02:58information on there at any point threatened the operation or the lives of our servicemen.

03:04And in fact, it was a very successful operation and it's an ongoing operation.

03:07But that was the intent behind it.

03:09And again, I think the Pentagon's made clear that nothing on there would have endangered

03:15the lives or the mission, and the mission's been very successful.

03:18Has it classified the information?

03:20Well, the Pentagon says it was not, and not only does it say it was not, they make very

03:24clear that it didn't put in danger anyone's life or the mission.

03:27The – there was no intelligence information.

03:29And understand, when this story first broke, they were sort of alluding to were there war

03:33maps, were there – there was no war plans on there.

03:35This was a sort of description of what we could inform our counterparts around the world

03:43when the time came to do so.

03:45Again, look, I think the White House is looking at this entire thing.

03:48How did that journalist get on there?

03:49Why – was this the appropriate – and I think there'll be reforms and changes made,

03:52so this never – this was not going to happen again.

03:54It can't.

03:55But I wanted everybody to understand why this thing was even set up in the first place and

03:59also understand very clearly the mission was successful and at no point was it endangered,

04:03and that's coming from the highest-ranking officials at the agency that was in charge

04:07of the actual operation, which is the Pentagon.

Marco Rubio Asked Point Blank If Leaked Chat Containing Strike Times Was 'Classified'

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