Marco Rubio Aggressively Tears Into Rex Tillerson Over Putin

[frigidmagi]

Mediaite

During the Senate confirmation hearing for President-elect Donald Trump’s Secretary of State pick Rex Tillerson, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) aggressively questioned the former ExxonMobil CEO over his stance on Russia and its leader Vladimir Putin.

With Tillerson’s close relationship in the past with Russia serving as background, Rubio pressed Tillerson on whether or not he’d advise Trump to repeal the sanctions that President Barack Obama has imposed over Russian hacking. When Tillerson pivoted to talking about the need for a solid cyber security plan, Rubio attempted to get him to give a direct answer.

After Tillerson said he wouldn’t describe Putin as a war criminal after Rubio asked him about that, the Florida lawmaker then spent the next few minutes explaining the atrocities in Aleppo and Russia’s involvement. When the hopeful SoS said those are “serious charges to make” and he would need to examine them more, Rubio informed him there are videos, pictures and info out there currently.

As Tillerson continued to deflect, Rubio grilled him some more, highlighting the charges that Putin has had opponents and critics murdered. When the oil giant said he couldn’t make conclusions “on what is publicly available,” Rubio shot back

“None of this is classified, Mr. Tillerson,” he exclaimed. “These people are dead!”

Watch the exchange above.