U.S. News, citing an anonymous Bush aide, said the reference was to “concerns Mitt Romney’s team unearthed when they vetted Rubio for vice president in 2012.” Rubio was among those considered for the VP slot, which ultimately went to now-House Speaker Paul Ryan.

Yet, in an email to POLITICO, Beth Myers, a longtime Romney political adviser who in 2012 oversaw his vice presidential search, pushed back on the assertion.

“As the senior Romney advisor who handled VP vetting and had access to all the vetting documents, I can say that Senator Rubio ‘passed’ our vetting and we found nothing that disqualified him from serving as VP,” wrote Myers, who counts herself a Bush supporter. “The Bush aide referred to in this article is simply wrong.”