Beneath the surface throughout official Washington there is much private discussion about which prominent Republican, who has credibility at the national level and is not planning to leave public life, will step forward with courage and clarity to say things that many Republicans privately believe but do not dare to publicly state.

In recent days Sen. Marco Rubio Marco Antonio RubioOvernight Defense: Pentagon redirects pandemic funding to defense contractors | US planning for full Afghanistan withdrawal by May | Anti-Trump GOP group puts ads in military papers Democrats step up hardball tactics as Supreme Court fight heats up Press: Notorious RBG vs Notorious GOP MORE (R-Fla.) has stepped forward to vigorously defend special counsel Robert Mueller Robert (Bob) MuellerCNN's Toobin warns McCabe is in 'perilous condition' with emboldened Trump CNN anchor rips Trump over Stone while evoking Clinton-Lynch tarmac meeting The Hill's 12:30 Report: New Hampshire fallout MORE from scurrilous and dishonest conspiracy-theory attacks against him.

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Rubio has warned about the difficulty of negotiations with North Korea and the danger that the negotiations as currently proceeding could lead to a choice between a diplomacy that breaks down and fails, or an agreement that does not provide protection against the North Korean nuclear danger.

Rubio has warned against the drive by China to achieve dominance in Asia and on the world stage and condemned China’s acts of economic aggression and espionage against America from Chinese firms such as ZTE.

On each of these issues and others, Rubio, who has considerable experience on national security and foreign policy matters, has taken highly visible and principled conservative positions on rapidly moving front-burner issues that will pose critical tests for President Trump Donald John TrumpOmar fires back at Trump over rally remarks: 'This is my country' Pelosi: Trump hurrying to fill SCOTUS seat so he can repeal ObamaCare Trump mocks Biden appearance, mask use ahead of first debate MORE and congressional Republicans and Democrats in the coming days, weeks and months.

Regarding Mueller and the special counsel investigation, there is no doubt that Russia has launched an attack against American democracy and democracy in Europe. All major American law enforcement, intelligence and counterintelligence agencies agree with this. Nor is there any doubt that Russia has targeted the 2018 midterm elections and that this attack is underway today.

Similarly, there is no doubt that Robert Mueller is an intensely patriotic American and long-term Republican — along with other intensely patriotic Americans and Republicans such as Attorney General Jeff Sessions Jefferson (Jeff) Beauregard SessionsGOP set to release controversial Biden report Trump's policies on refugees are as simple as ABCs Ocasio-Cortez, Velázquez call for convention to decide Puerto Rico status MORE, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein Rod RosensteinDOJ kept investigators from completing probe of Trump ties to Russia: report Five takeaways from final Senate Intel Russia report FBI officials hid copies of Russia probe documents fearing Trump interference: book MORE and FBI Director Christopher Wray.

President Trump is now engaged in an all-out attack against all investigations of the Russia scandal that includes — using my words and not Rubio’s — a litany of outright lies suggesting that lifetime Republican prosecutors are trying to help Democrats win the midterm elections and suggesting that America’s leading law enforcement and counter-intelligence agencies are engaging in a “criminal Deep State” conspiracy against him.

When Rubio, who serves on the Senate Intelligence Committee, defends Mueller and defends the integrity and fairness of the Mueller investigation, and calls for Mueller and the investigation to be protected until all evidence is fairly gathered and fully evaluated, he is performing an invaluable service to America and, I would argue, to Republicans as well as Democrats.

Regarding North Korea, all patriotic and sane Americans hope the negotiations succeed. But there is real danger in talks that are not well managed and prepared. There is no urgency that talks begin on June 12. There is real doubt that North Korea will agree to complete denuclearization. There is real urgency that an agreement is reached that will probably operate in stages but in any event, must include aggressive on-site verification by American-approved inspectors and experts.

Rubio is right in warning that our negotiating position must be well-prepared, carefully thought out, and effectively include airtight protections against a North Korean nuclear danger. Rubio is also right in warning about the threat from China and the need to refuse concessions that benefit ZTE, which has violated sanctions against North Korea and Iran, lied about those violations and uses its products to commit espionage against America.

The Mueller investigation, Korea negotiations and U.S.-China relations are complicated and volatile, central to American security and fast-moving. They could move in directions Rubio will support, but could also move in directions that require Rubio to take game-changing, profile-in-courage stands against actions that Trump might take that require Republicans to take hard positions of high principle.

History teaches that great crises create great leaders with lasting impact. At a time of danger to American security, Marco Rubio now stands at center stage.



Budowsky was an aide to former Sen. Lloyd Bentsen (D-Texas) and former Rep. Bill Alexander (D-Ark.), who was chief deputy majority whip of the U.S. House of Representatives. He holds an LLM in international financial law from the London School of Economics.