Rex Tillerson surfaces

Russia interfered with the 2016 U.S. elections, former Secretary of State and Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson said during a Thursday evening visit to Houston.

Making his first public appearance in nearly nine months, Tillerson spoke at a fundraiser for the MD Anderson Cancer Center, where he participated in a conversation with CBS News veteran Bob Schieffer.

When asked if he believes that Russia interfered in the presidential elections, Tillerson replied “there's no question” and that it was well-documented by intelligence agencies.

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Describing Russian President Vladimir Putin as a “very calculating” and “very opportunistic” leader, Tillerson said Putin’s strategy is to undermine the U.S. influence around the globe.

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When asked about his federal service, Tillerson told the crowd Thursday that he had never actually met Trump until he was invited to the White House by Vice President Mike Pence for a meeting that ended with him being asked to become secretary of state.

The honeymoon didn't last long, Tillerson said. The relationship between him and Trump became strained after the president grew tired of the former Exxon Mobil CEO telling him that he could not do things the way he wanted.

Tillerson said the two had starkly different styles and did not share a common value system.

"So often, the president would say here's what I want to do and here's how I want to do it and I would have to say to him, Mr. President I understand what you want to do but you can't do it that way. It violates the law," Tillerson said.

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"I'd say here's what we can do," Tillerson said. "We can go back to Congress and get this law changed. And if that's what you want to do, there's nothing wrong with that. I told him I'm ready to go up there and fight the fight, if that's what you want to do."

Tillerson said Trump rose to power by tapping into something that the American people felt very strong about and using the tools of the day such as Twitter to do it.

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"I don't want that to come across as a criticism of him," Tillerson said. "It's really a concern that I have about us as Americans and us as a society and us as citizens"

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"I will be honest with you, it troubles me that the American people seem to want to know so little about issues, that they are satisfied with a 128 characters," Tillerson told Schieffer.

  Houston Chronicle

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE 2:00pm:  LOL, His Lardship has seen the reports.