WOW! GREAT TO SEE CNN DOING THEIR WORK OF REPORTING ONCE IN A WHILE
CNN John King showed Tuesday afternoon the contradictory versions given by Obama National Security Adviser Susan Rice about her role in “unmasking” the names of Trump associates on intelligence reports.
3/22/2017: On PBS with Judy Woodruff, Susan Rice denied knowledge:[1]
SUSAN RICE: I know nothing about this. I was surprised to see reports from Chairman Nunes on that count today. I really don’t know to what Chairman Nunes was referring. But he said that whatever he was referring to was a legal lawful surveillance and that it was potentially incidental collection on American citizens.
4/04/2017: On MSNBC with by Andrea Mitchell, Susan Rice accepts participation in the unmasking:[2]
RICE: There were occasions when I would receive a report in which a U.S. person was referred to. Name not provided – just “U.S. person.” And sometimes in that context in order to understand the importance of the report and assess its significance, it was necessary to find out, or request the information, as to who that U.S. official was.
Susan Rice also said on April 4: “I didn’t request unmasking of Trump team members for political reasons.
ONE QUESTION:
Did Susan Rice “unmask” (reveal the identities of) U.S. citizens as part of a political fishing expedition or as part of possible national security concern?
We are being told that “unmasking” is not illegal when done as part of a legitimate investigation, but “unmasking” can allow for backdoor surveillance of American citizens.
However, Susan Rice was a political operative, not an investigator.
FOR THE RECORD:
Twitchy reports: PBS releases full transcript of Susan Rice Q&A ‘people have distorted,’ but Brit Hume’s not buying it:
“The transcript refutes her denial. She was asked a very broad question about Trump associates being swept up in intelligence,” Brit Hume responded to PBS in a tweet.
Fox News’ Brit Hume notes also that the full transcript shows she was asked very broadly about the possibility that Donald Trump and people around him in his campaign were caught up in surveillance of foreign individuals and their names disclosed. “Do you know anything about this?” is about as broad a question as can be asked.
Here is transcript of Woodruff’s full question to Susan Rice:
JUDY WOODRUFF: Susan Rice, welcome to the program. So we invited you on to talk about several things, but in the last few hours we’ve been following a disclosure by the Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Devin Nunes, that in essence during the final days of the Obama administration – during the transition, after President Trump had been elected – that he [Trump] and the people around him may have been caught up in surveillance of foreign individuals and that their identities may have been disclosed. Do you know anything about this?
SUSAN RICE: I know nothing about this. I was surprised to see reports from Chairman Nunes on that count today.
And let’s back up and recall where we have been. The President of the United States accused his predecessor, President Obama, of wiretapping Trump Tower during the campaign. Nothing of the sort occurred, and we have heard that confirmed by the director of the FBI, who also pointed out that no president, no White House can order the surveillance of another American citizen.
That can only come from the Justice Department, with the approval of a FISA court. So, today, I really don’t know to what Chairman Nunes was referring, but he said that whatever he was referring to was a legal, lawful surveillance, and that it was potentially incidental collection on American citizens.
And I think it’s important for people to understand what “incidental” means. That means that the target was either a foreign entity or somebody under criminal investigation, and that the Americans who were talking to those targets may have been picked up.
3/22/2017: The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Devin Nunes, said he had received evidence that some of the Trump transition team’s communications with foreign actors were surveilled by the Obama administration:
I also said that while there was not a physical wiretap of Trump Tower, I was concerned that other surveillance activities were used against President Trump and his associates.
1. I recently confirmed that, on numerous occasions, the intelligence community incidentally collected information about U.S. citizens involved in the Trump transition.
2. Details about U.S. persons associated with the incoming administration, details with little or no apparent foreign intelligence value, were widely disseminated in intelligence community reporting.
3. I have confirmed that additional names of Trump transition team members were unmasked.
4. I want to be clear: None of this surveillance was related to Russia or the investigation of Russian activities or of the Trump team.
SOURCES:
[1] PBS: “Susan Rice: The world wonders and worries if the White House can be trusted” (3/22/2017)
#http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/susan-rice-world-wonders-worries-white-house-can-trusted/
video:#https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5f3ScOY5FJY
Archived video as aired by PBS
[2] MSNBC: “‘I leaked nothing to nobody,’ Susan Rice insists” (4/4/17)
#http://www.msnbc.com/andrea-mitchell-reports/watch/-i-leaked-nothing-to-nobody-susan-rice-insists-913714243789
Video and transcript via RealClearPolitics
RELATED:
– Obama Official, Susan Rice, behind Unmasking Identities of Trump Team?
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– Eli Lake, Hannity Talked Re: Susan Rice Unmasking (Video)
– Flashback: Susan Rice on 5 Sunday Shows Blaming Benghazi Attack on a YouTube Video
Days before Trump took oath, 
