The House Intelligence Committee, as part of its Trump-Russia investigation, has subpoenaed the National Security Agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Central Intelligence Agency for information about “unmasking” efforts during the Obama Administration, reports The Wall Street Journal.
The subpoenas seek information on requests made by former national security adviser Susan Rice, former CIA Director John Brennan and former United Nations Ambassador Samantha Power for names to be unmasked in classified material.The three didn’t personally receive subpoenas,
Typically, information about Americans intercepted in foreign surveillance is redacted, even in classified reports distributed within the government, unless a compelling need exists to reveal them.Unmasking is the act of an authorized government official requesting such a name be revealed to him for compelling reasons.
Suspicions are that the unmaskings of Trump campaign officials were done for political intelligence reasons rather than because of compelling national security reasons.
The House Intelligence Committee is one of two bodies currently probing the question of whether Russian meddled in the 2016 election and whether anyone from Presudent Trump’s campaign played a role. The Senate Intelligence Committee is conducting its own investigation.
-RW
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