Senate Intel Panel: We’re Not Probing Whether Ted Cruz Spilled Classified Info

Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, speaks during an interview with the Associated Press in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2015. Cruz outlined an approach to foreign policy inspired by Ronald Reag... Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, speaks during an interview with the Associated Press in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2015. Cruz outlined an approach to foreign policy inspired by Ronald Reagan, saying he would restore the American leadership missing from the world under President Barack Obama. But pressed on how he would address specific hotspots of today, Cruz places limits on American action, including refusing to back ground troops to combat the Islamic State. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) MORE LESS
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After Senate Intelligence Committee chair Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) told reporters Wednesday morning his staff was looking into whether Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) revealed classified information during Tuesday’s debate, the committee issued a statement Wednesday afternoon announcing it was not investigating Cruz.

“The Committee is not investigating anything said during last night’s Republican Presidential debate,” the one-line statement said, per Foreign Policy’s John Hudson.

During the debate, Cruz defended his vote for a surveillance reform bill — for which Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) has been bashing him — by arguing it improved on the old program.

“What he knows is that the old program covered 20 percent to 30 percent of phone numbers to search for terrorists,” Cruz said, referring to Rubio. “The new program covers nearly 100 percent. That gives us greater ability to stop acts of terrorism, and he knows that that’s the case.”

Rubio hinted that Cruz may have just revealed classified information with his response.

“Let me be very careful when answering this, because I don’t think national television in front of 15 million people is the place to discuss classified information,” Rubio said. “So let me just be very clear. There is nothing that we are allowed to do under this bill that we could not do before.”

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