Susan Rice done it. Naughty. Naughty

 

Former Obama national security advisor Susan Rice asked “dozens” of times to unmask anonymous Trump allies mentioned in raw intel reports, a new report says.

The National Security Council notified the White House last month after its review turned up Rice’s multiple requests to un-redact the names of then-President-elect Trump’s transition staff from synopses of incidentally collected conversations, unnamed government officials told Bloomberg View’s Eli Lake.

The exchanges in question reportedly transpired mostly between foreign officials talking about the presidential transition, but also between foreign officials and Team Trump.

Top government officials can unmask incidentally collected names if the information meets the broad requirement of having “foreign intelligence value,” Lake noted — indicating the former national security advisor likely didn’t violate the law.  NY Dailynews

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Pilgrims!  Trumpistas!  Formez vos battaillons!  No, that was another movie.  Ah, yes, "Casablanca."  This looks bad for the narrative so painfully and carefully wrought by the Obamanites.  Nothing like this was supposed to turn up in the media.   Did Susan Rice break the law?  Probably not.  She was probably legally able to obtain the true identities of Americans in these intercepts (otherwise known as US Person 32, etc.).  Was that an abuse of power?  It was.  There will be more to come.  pl   

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/susan-rice-asked-unmask-trump-officials-intel-reports-article-1.3017581

Comments

[Allen Thomson]

Doesn't the interpretation of this depend on why she wanted the unmasking?

If

1) She saw information that, though not culpable in itself, could be used by the Dems to political advantage, that would an abuse of power. (But how, in the event, did that get used?)

Or

2) She saw something that indicated actual collusion in a culpable way between someone on or near the Trump campaign and the Russkies, that would be something that should be pursued and a legitimate use of power. But again, how did that get used -- is it something the FBI is now looking into?

[Sam Peralta]

Col. Lang

Is it unusual for the National Security Advisor to leak the names of US persons involved in surveillance of foreign nationals to the media?

Susan Rice may not have broken the law in requesting the unmasking. But, did she violate the rights of those unmasked by leaking their names to the media?

The story may take another turn as the Trump administration now have the ability to change the emphasis to the surveillance of the Trump transition team. I'm sure however the MSM will still try to keep the focus on the Russians causing Trump to win the election.

[Tel]

There's more to discover... because the intelligence reports never stopped at Rice, they ended up leaked all through the media. There's no way all of that leaking could be legal.

[Blrturner]

Knew you would rejoice when someone from Obama Administration named. Still does not take away from the Trump Russia questions. You never talk about those questions. You Trumpians really don't want to believe he lies and he lied and he is unstable.
Keep Hope Alive

[Emad]

Colonel,

IMHO no revelation of misdeed by team Trump or team Obama would sway either base. Trump however will learn how to turn the same gun on Democrats and parts of the Republican establishment, ruthlessly using the IC machinery against his political opponents, with the amount of firework depending on how good an understudy he really is.

[turcopolier]

birturner

It is not a crime or even improper to know Russians or Soviets in the old days.and talk to them. I have known quite a few and recruited some of them to spy for US intelligence. You putschists are making a hell of a mistake in hanging your hat on baloney like that. You are unhappy with Trump rolling back your revolution? Well, say so instead of making yourselves look lie fools. There is no way you are going to get him impeached or removed under the 25th Amendment. You should concentrate on winning back all those white people that you lost in this election. If you answer this with civility I will consider letting you comment further. Once again I am not a Trumpist. I am a supporter of the existing constitutional order which you do not seem to be. I have banned whatever you are three times. Want to go for a fourth? pl

[The Twisted Genius]

Tel,

What reports leaked to the media? I've seen references of Flynn conversations with Russian officials leaked, but I haven't seen them.

[Kooshy]

"Top government officials can unmask incidentally collected names if the information meets the broad requirement of having “foreign intelligence value,” Lake noted — indicating the former national security advisor likely didn’t violate the law."

Some how I was wondering if there is a back door for avoiding this law, like all laws there is one.

[turcopolier]

kooshy

you don't understand. Rice by virtue of her position could have their true names revealed to her but she could not legally have these true names inserted into widely circulated (within the government) documents. pl

[Kooshy]

Bob Hope passed away a while back god bless his sole, but the "hope" you hanged your hopes on never came to be. Ask the last voters.

[turcopolier]

Sam Peralta

"Is it unusual for the National Security Advisor to leak the names of US persons involved in surveillance of foreign nationals to the media" I would think it is a felony. pl

[turcopolier]

Allen Thompson

"But how, in the event, did that get used" She or someone else released it to the media. pl

[The Twisted Genius]

My guess is that the FBI, with CIA and NSA help, has been conducting intensive physical and electronic surveillance, as well as intrusive data searches on a number of USPs within the Trump team since they initiated their counterintelligence investigation a year ago. That's what they did for Ames, Hannsen and Montes before they brought the hammer down on them. Of course this could all end up with complete exoneration of many or all USPs involved. These unmasked incidental reports at the NSC may have even triggered the CI investigation.

I am surprised none of this came out before the election. After all, if this was all political dirty tricks by the Obama administration, wouldn't they have used it when it could have done Clinton some good?

[Jackrabbit]

"Did Susan Rice break the law? Probably not."

But what about Obama's releasing of NSA info? Was it a fishing expedition or an attempt to cover-up by masking how info was sourced?

The order to share NSA info seems so unusual and broad that it also raises questions of official misconduct.

[Priam's Crazy Daughter]

I can't see how the Democratic Party can win back those white voters if they continue to expect us to feel guilty about our supposed "white guilt." Heck. there is a greater chance that Obama's white ancestors in Kansas had slaves than that my white ancestors first in Europe and then in Russia had slaves.

[Keith Harbaugh]

And what does WaPo lead their web page with at 5 PM?
This:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/blackwater-founder-held-secret-seychelles-meeting-to-establish-trump-putin-back-channel/2017/04/03/95908a08-1648-11e7-ada0-1489b735b3a3_story.html
with a screaming three-line headline and labeled as "Breaking News".

A search shows "Susan Rice" does not even appear on their web page.

It sure looks like WaPo will ignore, marginalize, down-play, or dispute
ANY facts that make Trump look good,
while they hype anything related to Trump which can, somehow, be interpreted negatively.

[Priam's Crazy Daughter]

Did legality (or honesty) ever cross Rice's mind before? What about her lies about the video?

Even if she had been lied to about that, I don't think it crossed her mind to check to be sure she was telling the truth before she went to talk with the media.

[Priam's Crazy Daughter]

Were they just believing the MSM and the pollsters who were so sure Hillary would win? It seemed so strange to me that HRC was such a lazy campaigner, especially toward the end?

[Old Microbiologist]

They didn't use it because they were completely convinced the election was in the bag. Once that became a false belief, they then began spying in earnest and to try and generate a conspiracy. Trump should watch Homeland as it is pretty much following the script.

[Jack]

I suppose the next stage of this story will be the "unmasking" of the leaker of the unmasked names from surveillance of the Russian ambassador and other foreigners. Clearly someone who had access to the surveillance reports told WaPo and the NY Times that Flynn had conversations with the Russians.

To my not so swift mind as to what happened is that the Dems in general and the Obama administration in particular began to gather oppo research on Trump and his team. In doing that they began surveillance of all communications. With the billion dollar campaign and the backing of the MSM, and with all the polls confirming the sure thing Hillary victory they just sat tight as there was nothing more damaging than what was already out there. They were so confident that the audio tapes and their as well as media hammering that Trump was not fit to serve as POTUS would seal the deal. Then the unthinkable happened. Voters in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin decided to pull the lever for Trump. Their outrage that the person they despised won got them to try and take him down by claiming the Russians manipulated our election and that Trump is Putin's stooge. This was easier than accept that their sure thing candidate blew the election by her condescension and ineptitude.

We are now in the next phase where this campaign to take out POTUS may be unraveling. It will be interesting to see what each side does next and what the forthcoming revelations do the media narrative. And of course where the FBI investigation leads. How will the IC fare in this duel where they are in the middle as both participants and observers?

[Eric Newhill]

TTG,
The possibility that you seem to resist tooth and claw is that they wanted to find something to release and it turned out that Trump is much cleaner than they imagined. So they resorted to making innuendos about Russian connections and investigations under the premises that a) if you say it often enough, people will believe it b) people think where's there's smoke there must be fire.

Didn't Bernie Sanders honeymoon in the Soviet Union and praise it?

[The Twisted Genius]

Eric Newhill,

It doesn't require teeth or claws. Comey announced a CI investigation of Russian efforts to interfere in the election, including any cooperation between Trump's campaign and Moscow was underway since July 2016. He said this under oath during his testimony to the House Intelligence Committee. This is well beyond innuendo.

Trump and his associates could do themselves a real favor by leveling with the public about his business and financial dealings with Russians and cooperating fully with the FBI investigation. As long as these contacts are all above board, that part of the investigation would quickly conclude and Trump would be publicly exonerated. This denial of all contacts followed by a constant drip of revealed contacts is killing him and his associates.

[The Twisted Genius]

Keith Harbaugh,

Neither one of these stories was on the ABC Nightly News TV broadcast tonight.

[steve]

"Once that became a false belief, they then began spying in earnest and to try and generate a conspiracy."

Even that doesn't make a whole lot of sense. If they create a conspiracy theory, it gets investigated. Unless there is really something behind the claims, nothing really happens, except that it makes it more difficult for the Trump administration to work for a while. Pretty much describes what the GOP did with Benghazi.

Steve

[eakens]

With all the leaks, political innuendos, and vendettas floating around Washington these days, it becomes more and more clear that the only thing that can really solve this problem is constitutional order. The long term folly of disrupting that for short term political gains will prove to be a grave mistake.

Correcting the ship will involve the prosecution of anybody and everybody who has violated the law, from this administration or the prior one. That willingness may not exist today, but will hopefully surface sooner rather than later on this road we are travelling down.