Hillary Clinton’s top aides may have relied on an unlikely ally to help secure the confirmation of a favored ambassador in 2012: Sen. Marco Rubio.
After voting against the nomination of Mari Carmen Aponte for ambassador to El Salvador in Dec. 2011, Rubio shifted gears and worked to convince his Republican colleagues to support Aponte’s nomination, according to emails made public by the State Department Thursday.
The exchanges shed light on the complicated political maneuvering that took place behind the scenes as State Department officials worked to shepherd the ambassador’s confirmation through a divided Senate.
For example, a December 2011 email to Clinton indicates Rubio worked with then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in an attempt to secure votes for Aponte’s confirmation.
“Rubio has been telling folks in Miami, including Amb. Aponte, that he asked Reid to move to reconsider so he, Rubio, could have a few days to work on Republicans he thinks are ‘gettable.’ Extraordinary,” wrote David Adams, Clinton’s top legislative adviser, to the secretary.
Ricki Seidman, a Democratic consultant who worked in the Clinton White House, wrote to Cheryl Mills, Clinton’s chief of staff, the following day with a detailed explanation of how the confirmation fight was unfolding in the Senate.
Seidman wrote she was “concerned that Rubio is not serious and is trying to rehabilitate himself by saying he tried and prevent his closest allies in Miami from denouncing him.”
Rubio had faced a backlash from Puerto Rican constituents after he initially blocked the confirmation of Aponte, a Puerto Rican, for political reasons before agreeing to change his vote, NBC Latino reported in 2012.
The Florida Republican reportedly voted against Aponte’s nomination in order to pressure the White House into making changes to its Latin American policy. He then offered to help round up enough GOP votes to confirm Aponte’s appointment after winning foreign policy concessions, according to reports, although it is unclear what those concessions were.
A Rubio spokesman did not immediately return a request for comment.
Seidman said she would be watching closely to see if Rubio brought up his support of Aponte’s nomination in a Dec. 13, 2011 caucus meeting.
“Lindsey Graham will let us know if this happens,” Seidman wrote. “If it doesn’t, that’s a good sign that Rubio is playing [Aponte].”
Mills had informed Seidman that, according to Clinton, Rubio was offering to meet with Aponte ahead of the vote.
“HRC just talked to Mari who said Rubio called her to meet again,” Mills said, using Clinton’s initials.
“The outside groups know nothing of this and have been organized to go all out in criticizing Rubio publicly,” Seidman said of Rubio’s behind-the-scenes effort to orchestrate support for Aponte.
The Clinton insider suggested Aponte tap a political ally to “get all his Miami friends to call Rubio and pressure him to fix this,” referring to the stalled confirmation vote.
Seidman had high praise for the El Salvadoran ambassador, although she worried Rubio was simply stringing her along for personal gain.
“Mari has done a fabulous job trying to get this done and has been very courageous,” she said. “[B]ut it would be even more cruel to her than events have been already for her to be invested in something just designed to make Rubio look good without getting her confirmed.”
Rubio seemingly denied in a June 2012 interview just before Aponte was confirmed that he would play a major role in locking down the seven Republican votes needed to secure her position, which began as a recess appointment from President Obama.
“I am not the whip for the State Department,” Rubio said, according to Roll Call.
Sen. Jim DeMint reportedly led an effort to block Aponte’s appointment over questions about a past boyfriend with ties to the Cuban regime, as well as the fact that she had written what he considered a “pro-gay” op-ed in an El Salvadoran newspaper.
After failing to win the necessary votes in late 2011, Aponte was finally confirmed in June 2012.
In an April 2012 email to Mills, Aponte suggested Sen. Robert Menendez and Rubio were helping her move closer to confirmation.
“I had a very good conversation with Senator Menendez, who is now very engaged and is in the process of reconfirming Senator Rubio’s position as a ‘Yes’ on my vote,” Aponte wrote.
Menendez was a vocal supporter of Aponte’s nomination and had even penned an op-ed in the Miami Herald in Dec. 2011 arguing that “[p]olitics shouldn’t deny a qualified Latina.”
Aponte remains the U.S. ambassador to El Salvador.
The episode highlights the often complex process by which presidential nominees are confirmed by the Senate when lawmakers from both parties use their ability to block candidates as a political pressure tactic.
