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Guest
In an interview with FOX News's Bret Baier, the Florida senator fielded a series of questions about three of the top known issues that could snag him in VP vetting: how he used his Republican Party of Florida credit card, his friendship with embattled Rep. David Rivera, and a foreclosure threat on a house he and Rivera owned.
The transcript is below:
The transcript is below:
BRET BAIER: When you were speaker of the Florida House, you charged personal expenses on this party-issued credit card. What happened with that?
MARCO RUBIO: At the end of every month, we would get those statements. We would see what was on there that was party-related, and the party would pay that. If it wasn't party-related, I would pay that directly to American Express.
Now, obviously, in hindsight, it looks bad, right? I mean, why are you using a party credit card at all? Well, some of these expenses were because a travel agent had the number, you know, the credit card number, and they billed it to that card instead of the other card. Sometimes, it was just a mistake, you know, literally just reached for the wrong card.
But it's important people understand I did not bill personal expenses to the Republican Party of Florida. The Republican Party of Florida never paid my personal expenses. Never. But look, you know, I shouldn't have done it that way. It was — it was — lesson learned.
BAIER: Another thing that people raise concerns about — what is your relationship with Rep. Rivera?
RUBIO: He's a friend. I mean, he's a friend I've known on a personal level even before I was elected or he was elected to office. So look, I know he's going through a tough time. And we've all read the press reports and none of us like to see that about anybody, much less a friend. And he's going to have to deal with those issues.
BAIER: Rubio is hosting a fundraiser for Rivera in May. Adding to the media questions, Rivera and Rubio bought a house together in Tallahassee during their time in the state House, a house the bank was moving to foreclose.
RUBIO: There was a disagreement with the bank about how much the monthly payments were. And it all got confusing. The bank turned it over to a — one of these law firms in Florida that specialized in quick foreclosure proceedings. And before we could figure it all out with them, they filed this paperwork. So we quickly addressed it, and we've never had a problem since.
BAIER: You were not making payments.
RUBIO: Yes, there was a disagreement over the amount per month. And so to them, that's not — those are not complete payments. And — and — so there were all kinds of other things that happened as a result of that. But that all got worked out as soon as we found out about it. Certainly, as soon as I found out about it, we addressed it and we moved on with it. Now, I've been handling that personally.
http://www.politico.com/blogs/burns...it-card-rivera-mortgage-questions-122137.html
MARCO RUBIO: At the end of every month, we would get those statements. We would see what was on there that was party-related, and the party would pay that. If it wasn't party-related, I would pay that directly to American Express.
Now, obviously, in hindsight, it looks bad, right? I mean, why are you using a party credit card at all? Well, some of these expenses were because a travel agent had the number, you know, the credit card number, and they billed it to that card instead of the other card. Sometimes, it was just a mistake, you know, literally just reached for the wrong card.
But it's important people understand I did not bill personal expenses to the Republican Party of Florida. The Republican Party of Florida never paid my personal expenses. Never. But look, you know, I shouldn't have done it that way. It was — it was — lesson learned.
BAIER: Another thing that people raise concerns about — what is your relationship with Rep. Rivera?
RUBIO: He's a friend. I mean, he's a friend I've known on a personal level even before I was elected or he was elected to office. So look, I know he's going through a tough time. And we've all read the press reports and none of us like to see that about anybody, much less a friend. And he's going to have to deal with those issues.
BAIER: Rubio is hosting a fundraiser for Rivera in May. Adding to the media questions, Rivera and Rubio bought a house together in Tallahassee during their time in the state House, a house the bank was moving to foreclose.
RUBIO: There was a disagreement with the bank about how much the monthly payments were. And it all got confusing. The bank turned it over to a — one of these law firms in Florida that specialized in quick foreclosure proceedings. And before we could figure it all out with them, they filed this paperwork. So we quickly addressed it, and we've never had a problem since.
BAIER: You were not making payments.
RUBIO: Yes, there was a disagreement over the amount per month. And so to them, that's not — those are not complete payments. And — and — so there were all kinds of other things that happened as a result of that. But that all got worked out as soon as we found out about it. Certainly, as soon as I found out about it, we addressed it and we moved on with it. Now, I've been handling that personally.
http://www.politico.com/blogs/burns...it-card-rivera-mortgage-questions-122137.html
