Despite denials, was part of ‘unmasking’
Former Vice President Joe Biden was among the top Obama-administration officials who tried to “unmask” former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn during the Russia probe — despite Biden’s repeated denials, according to a report by acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell.
Grenell on Wednesday sent a bombshell letter to GOP senators as they seek to investigate the origins of the FBI’s maligned probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Former FBI Director James Comey and intelligence chiefs John Brennan and James Clapper are also included on the list of 23 named Obama-era officials who allegedly tried to reveal the identity of Flynn during the presidential transition period.
Also named are Obama chief of staff Denis McDonough and former US Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power.
Nine names were redacted for apparent national-security purposes.
Biden’s name emerged in connection with the Flynn unmasking just a day after he denied any knowledge of the Flynn probe.
“What did you know about those moves to investigate Michael Flynn, and was there anything improper done?” “Good Morning America” host George Stephanopoulos asked Biden Tuesday.
“I know nothing about those moves to investigate Michael Flynn,” Biden said.
Asked about Biden and the others named in the letter, President Trump told reporters at the White House Wednesday, “The unmasking is a massive thing. I just got a list, who can believe a thing like this?
“And I watched Biden yesterday on ‘Good Morning America’ . . . and he said he knew nothing about anything. He has no idea, he knows nothing about anything. Nothing at all,” Trump said. “And then it gets released today that he was a big unmasker. So how do you know nothing if you’re one of the unmaskers?”
The document sent to the senators on Wednesday and obtained by Fox News included a memo from National Security Agency Director Paul Nakasone, who provided the list.
The list, he said, includes officials “who may have received Lt. Gen. Flynn’s identity in response to a request processed between 8 November 2016 and 31 January 2017 to unmask an identity that had been generically referred to in an NSA foreign intelligence report.”
Nakasone also said that each person on the list was “an authorized recipient,” that the unmasking was approved through the agency’s normal procedures, and that intel officials could not say for sure that everyone on the list saw the unmasking information.
“While the principals are identified below, we cannot confirm they saw the unmasked information,” he said.
While Nakasone said proper procedures were followed, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) teed off on Biden.
“So this was a cabal, this was a conspiracy, and really the question is, did President Obama direct it all or did Vice President Biden?” Paul said on Fox News, noting that he wants Grenell to testify before the Senate next week.
Biden campaign official Andrew Bates said in a statement, “Donald Trump’s attempt at dishonest media manipulation to distract from his response to the worst public-health crisis in 100 years has backfired . . . These documents simply indicate the breadth and depth of concern across the American government — including among career officials — over intelligence reports of Michael Flynn’s attempts to undermine ongoing American national security policy through discussions with Russian officials or other foreign representatives.”
National-security officials can seek to reveal the identity of people who had conversations that were subject to government surveillance, a process known as “unmasking.”
The Obama administration officials have been accused of “unmasking” Flynn’s identity based on intelligence intercepts of his calls with former Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak in late 2016.
The Washington Post first reported Flynn’s Russia contacts, but it remained unclear if any of the officials involved in the unmasking were the direct sources of the story.
Flynn was fired in February 2017 for lying to Vice President Mike Pence about his conversations with Kislyak, Trump said at the time.
The Justice Department last week moved to drop the criminal case against Flynn, who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Kislyak, though a federal judge in Washington, DC, has not yet ruled on the move.
With the release of the names of more than a dozen officials who asked to have Gen. Michael Flynn’s identity “unmasked,” the apparent effort to take down President Trump — before he even took office — is starting to look like a broader Team Obama scheme than first thought.
The disclosed names include those of exVice President Joe Biden, Obama Chief of Staff Denis McDonough, FBI boss James Comey and intel chiefs John Brennan and James Clapper. Acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell sent the list of names to Congress on Wednesday after they were declassified.
Unmasking is the process of revealing to certain officials the names of people caught in conversations with foreign nationals who are under surveillance. The Obama folks asked to have such people, including the person heard speaking with the Russian ambassador, unmasked in the days and weeks prior to a key Jan. 5, 2017, meeting with President Barack Obama.
True, it’s not unusual for officials to make unmasking requests. but Obama’s team was obsessed with Trump’s foreign-policy team, particularly Michael Flynn, who had been kicked out of Obama’s administration. Were these legitimate worries, or a vendetta? Or just anger that Trump wanted to pursue a foreign policy different from Obamas? And given how the FBI pushed to bring down Flynn, the broad Team Obama interest in Flynn’s conversation certainly raises red flags.
Indeed, an exhibit in the Justice Department’s motion to drop the criminal case against Flynn — who was pressured to plead guilty to lying about that conversation — shows that Obama himself was aware of Flynn’s discussion with the envoy.
A memo then-National Security Adviser Susan Rice later wrote about that Jan. 5 meeting even suggests the then-president instructed his underlings to be careful about what information they shared with the Trump folks regarding Russia.
Biden’s role, too, is now questionable. On Tuesday, the Democratic presidential wannabe first claimed he knew “nothing about those moves to investigate Michael Flynn.” Yet when pressed, Biden admitted he “was aware that there was — that they asked for an investigation, but that’s all I know.” OK, so why was Biden requesting the name of the person (Flynn) who spoke to the Russian?
At some point, Attorney General William Barr and prosecutor John Durham will likely put all the pieces of this puzzle in place. Meanwhile, though, Biden and the rest of the Obama crew have a lot of explaining to do.