Florida Sen. Marco Rubio believes reports that the National Security Agency may have surveilled members of Congress do not reveal the full truth, which may be “worse than some people might think.”
The Wall Street Journal reported that the NSA “swept up the content of private conversations with U.S. lawmakers” while targeting Israeli leaders. Rubio, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, expressed caution about the NSA’s rumored misdeeds in an interview with Fox News on the presidential campaign trail in Iowa on Wednesday morning.
“This is one of those complicated issues when it comes to intelligence matters, we have to be very careful about how we discuss it, especially since there’s a press report that I don’t think gets the entire story,” Rubio said. “[I’m] not defending the Obama administration. I actually think it might even be worse than some people might think. But this is an issue we’ll keep a close eye on.”
He continued to say he did not intend to sound evasive but wanted to make certain he did not reveal anything inappropriate on a national television show. The senator also argued that the U.S. is the “greatest country in the world,” but added that “we are a great nation in decline” in need of transformational leadership.
Rubio, who ranks fourth in the Washington Examiner’s newest GOP presidential power rankings, is stumping in Iowa alongside South Carolina Rep. Trey Gowdy. The Rubio campaign released a new ad set to air in New Hampshire on Wednesday.
