Sen. Marco Rubio, the new interim chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, on Wednesday said someone “broke the law” by leaking information about Michael Flynn’s conversation with the former Russian ambassador to the U.S., and it’s valid to ask more questions about how it happened.
“Someone took that information, gave it to members of the press and broke the law, and I think that alone is cause for accountability to find out who did it,” Mr. Rubio, Florida Republican, said on “Fox & Friends.”
He said the information was “owned” by the FBI and not the U.S. intelligence community.
“You cannot have a law enforcement agency have people within it that break the law. This is a valid area of inquiry,” Mr. Rubio said.
He said he’s confident that the Senate Judiciary Committee will do a good job of getting to the bottom of it.
Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham has announced his panel will debate and vote on a subpoena authorization that covers a number of Obama administration officials, including former FBI Director James B. Comey and former intelligence officials James R. Clapper and John O. Brennan.
Mr. Comey, Mr. Clapper and Mr. Brennan were among officials recently revealed to have put in “unmasking” requests connected with Flynn, President Trump’s former national security adviser.
Mr. Clapper recently denied leaking classified information to a Washington Post columnist.
Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his conversations with former Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, but later withdrew the plea.
The Justice Department recently moved to end the case, but a judge has put that plan on hold for the time being and is calling for further review.
