Susan Rice Requested 'Unmasking' Of Trump Associates: Report

WASHINGTON, DC — Susan Rice, a former adviser to President Obama, requested the identification of President Trump's associates included in reports summarizing conversations intercepted by U.S. intelligence agencies, according to a report from Bloomberg. Nothing in the report supports Trump's claims that Obama or anybody in else ordered any surveillance targeting Trump or his associates.

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The intelligence agency reports at question, rather, were generated from legal surveillance of foreign nationals. Identification of Americans involved in those conversations or mentioned during them is allowed by law when related to wrongdoing or when needed to understand or assess the value of foreign intelligence.

Eli Lake, a columnist for Bloomberg View, cited anonymous U.S. officials for the story, which found that Rice tried to identify people connected to Trump whose names were redacted in raw intelligence reports. These claims are similar to those initially made by Rep. Devin Nunes, the chair of the House Intelligence Community, though he later backed off somewhat from his assertions.

Defenders of the president are likely to see this report as vindication of his accusation that Obama "wiretapped" Trump Tower, which Trump reiterated on Twitter as recently as Monday morning.

"Such amazing reporting on unmasking and the crooked scheme against us by @foxandfriends," he wrote. "'Spied on before nomination.' The real story."

But the Bloomberg report does little to support these claims — which Lake himself acknowledges plainly.

It does not even look like Rice did anything legally dubious, as the administration has wide authority to request for the unmasking of names that have "some foreign intelligence value."

Given that the Trump campaign and its associates were under investigation by the FBI for possible collusion with the Russian government, as Director James Comey has confirmed, officials would likely argue that there was foreign intelligence value in having the names.

Indeed, it's not even clear from the story whether or not any names actually were unmasked because of Rice's request.

However, Lake argues that his sources' claims do raise serious civil liberties concerns about whether administration procedures provide significant protection for American citizens.

"Rice's multiple requests to learn the identities of Trump officials discussed in intelligence reports during the transition period does highlight a longstanding concern for civil liberties advocates about U.S. surveillance programs," Lake writes.

The White House has made little indication that it seeks to change policies regarding civil liberties broadly, focusing instead on the individual issue of whether or not the Trump campaign was surveilled.

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