--- title: Marco Rubio Hacking: He Confirms Staffers Targeted description: Florida Senator Marco Rubio said a public Senate hearing on Russian meddling in the 2016 election that his staff members were targeted. canonical: https://time.com/4718548/russian-hacking-marco-rubio-target/ author: Alana Abramson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-03-30T15:23:45.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-13T10:08:04.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: Marco Rubio Confirms His Staffers Were Targeted by Computers in Russia og:description: After an expert witness told the Senate he believed Rubio had been targeted. og:url: https://time.com/4718548/russian-hacking-marco-rubio-target/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt94c38d2ab2d83602/6988bd05fb4eac048f890fea/marco-rubio.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2000 og:image:height: 1125 og:image:alt: Marco Rubio og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Marco Rubio Confirms His Staffers Were Targeted by Computers in Russia twitter:description: After an expert witness told the Senate he believed Rubio had been targeted. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt94c38d2ab2d83602/6988bd05fb4eac048f890fea/marco-rubio.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Marco Rubio Confirms His Staffers Were Targeted by Computers in Russia > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: Russia Might Have Hurt Marco Rubio's Presidential Campaign, Expert Testifies [Watch (HLS stream): Russia Might Have Hurt Marco Rubio's Presidential Campaign, Expert Testifies](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ZPkWjZNt.m3u8) (0:48)  _Published 2017-03-30. Russia may have tried to undermine Florida Sen. Marco Rubio's presidential campaign, an expert witness told the Senate Intelligence Committee Thursday._  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Updated: Dec 13, 2023 10:08 AM UTCPublished: Mar 30, 2017 3:23 PM UTC  Sen. Marco Rubio departs after speaking with the media after a Senate Foreign Relations committee business meeting on the nomination of Rex Tillerson to be Secretary of State, on Jan. 23, 2017 in Washington, D.C. Sen. Marco Rubio departs after speaking with the media after a Senate Foreign Relations committee business meeting on the nomination of Rex Tillerson to be Secretary of State, on Jan. 23, 2017 in Washington, D.C. Alex Brandon—AP  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Updated: Dec 13, 2023 10:08 AM UTCPublished: Mar 30, 2017 3:23 PM UTC [Florida Senator Marco Rubio](http://time.com/4598989/marco-rubio-rex-tillerson-secretary-state-donald-trump/) said a public Senate hearing on [Russian meddling](http://time.com/4718294/russia-investigation-senate-hearing/) in the [2016 election](http://time.com/4706424/donald-trump-twitter-russia-election-democrats/) that his staff members were targeted on two occasions by IP addresses from Russia. Rubio said that former members of his presidential campaign team with access to internal documents from his presidential campaign were targeted in July of 2016, after he had announced he would seek reelection for the Senate, and again this past Wednesday by IP addresses from an undisclosed location in Russia. Both efforts were unsuccessful, he said. Rubio, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, disclosed this information after Clint Watts, a fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, said during his testimony that Russia may have tried to undermine the Senator’s presidential campaign. “Russia’s overt media outlets sought to sideline opponents on both sides of the political spectrum,” Watts said at the hearing. “Senator Rubio, in my opinion, you suffered through these efforts.” The remarks about Rubio were not in a [prepared copy](https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/sites/default/files/documents/os-cwatts-033017.pdf) of the testimony posted on the Senate Intelligence Committee’s website. Watts did not elaborate on why he believes this, and Rubio did not ask about it. His office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In November of 2016, Rubio told [CBS News](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/face-the-nation-transcript-november-27-2016-rubio/) he doesn’t think Russian meddling, if it occurred, changed the outcome of the election, but the American people should be aware if there is evidence of a foreign intervention. Those testifying at the hearing also said Brexit and other European elections should be examined for evidence of Russian interference. In October, Rubio said he refused to discuss any content from WikiLeaks, which had released emails from Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta, because it was an intentional effort to undermine the U.S. election. “We cannot be a country where foreign intelligence agencies influence our political process,” [he said](http://wfla.com/2016/12/12/florida-elector-not-among-those-asking-for-intelligence-briefing-on-russia/) at the time. “What I would say to my Republican colleagues, some of whom might be disappointed: today its them. Tomorrow it could be us.” The statement put him at odds with Donald Trump, who often touted Wikileaks. ## Transcript Through the end of 2015 and start of 2016, the Russian influence system began pushing themes and messages seeking to influence the outcome of the US presidential election. Russia's overt media outlets and covert trolls sought to sideline opponents on both sides of the political spectrum with adversarial views towards the Kremlin. They were in full swing during both the republican and democratic primary season and may have helped sink the hopes of candidates more hostile to Russian interests long before the field narrowed. Senator Rubio, in my opinion, you anecdotally suffered from these efforts. The final piece of Russia's moderate active measures surfaced in the summer of 2016 as hack materials were strategically leaked. The disclosures of Wiki Leaks, Guccifer 2. 0, and D. 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