Nunes-led House Intelligence Committee asked for ‘unmaskings’ of Americans
House
Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) has criticized
“violations of Americans’ civil liberties via unmaskings.” (Melina
Mara/The Washington Post)
The
Republican-controlled House Intelligence Committee asked U.S. spy
agencies late last year to reveal the names of U.S. individuals or
organizations contained in classified intelligence on Russia’s meddling
in the 2016 election, engaging in the same practice that President Trump
has accused the Obama administration of abusing, current and former
officials said.
The
chairman of the committee, Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), has since cast
the practice of “unmasking” of U.S. individuals and organizations
mentioned in classified reports as an abuse of surveillance powers by
the outgoing Obama administration.
Trump
has argued that investigators should focus their attention on former
officials leaking names from intelligence reports, rather than whether
the Kremlin coordinated its activities with the Trump campaign, an
allegation he has denied. “The big story is the ‘unmasking and
surveillance’ of people that took place during the Obama
administration,” Trump tweeted Thursday.
According
to a tally by U.S. spy agencies, the House Intelligence Committee
requested five to six unmaskings of U.S. organizations or individuals
related to Trump or Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton between June
2016 and January 2017. Officials familiar with the matter said that the
committee’s requests focused on the identities of U.S. organizations
that had been hacked by the Russians in 2016. Officials declined to say
how many of the requests came from Democrats vs. Republicans.
The
chairman of the committee wields enormous control over the actions of
its members and requests for more information from intelligence
agencies. Officials said that committee rules require the chairman to
sign off on the requests, even ones that are not his own.
With
allegations targeting former Obama national security adviser Susan E.
Rice, here's what you need to know about "unmasking" U.S. persons.
(Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post)
A spokesman for Republicans on Nunes’s committee declined to comment on whether the panel made any requests for unmasking.
He
added, “It is standard operating procedure for the House Intelligence
Committee to forward all committee members’ questions from both parties
to the appropriate agencies, whether or not they are answered. I refer
you to committee Democrats for further questions on this subject.”
Every
day, U.S. intelligence agencies sweep up vast quantities of foreign
communications. Sometimes, they pick up communications involving U.S.
individuals or organizations. In reports based on those communications,
intelligence agencies “mask” the identities of the Americans, part of an
effort to protect their privacy.
Senior
government officials, however, can ask spy agencies to reveal the names
of Americans or U.S. organizations in the reports if they believe that
doing so will help them better understand the underlying intelligence.
They must have a legitimate need to know, and National Security Agency
unmaskings are reviewed by the Justice Department and the Office of the
Director of National Intelligence, known as the ODNI.
Some
officials said that House Intelligence Committee members may not have
realized spy agencies would count their requests as unmaskings. These
officials said lawmakers submitted questions that intelligence officers
could answer only by revealing the identities of U.S. individuals.
Nunes
served subpoenas this week to the CIA, the NSA and the FBI asking for
information about unmaskings requested by three former officials:
national security adviser Susan E. Rice, CIA director John Brennan and
U.N. ambassador Samantha Power.
On
Thursday, Nunes tweeted, “Seeing a lot of fake news from media elites
and others who have no interest in violations of Americans’ civil
liberties via unmaskings.”
Democrats
on the panel say they believe the latest direction of Nunes’s
investigation is designed to deflect attention from the Russia probe. In
April, Nunes was forced to recuse himself from the committee’s probe of
Russia because of allegations he may have inappropriately disclosed
classified information. Nunes has denied any wrongdoing.
Current
and former U.S. intelligence officials say requests for unmaskings are a
routine and necessary part of their national security work. After
requests are made, spy agencies decide whether to provide the names.
Officials say few requests are rejected because most are legitimate.
Still,
senior officials know that unmaskings can be controversial and are
often reluctant to submit large numbers of requests. To protect
themselves from any allegations of abuse, spy agencies track unmasking
requests closely.
Rice
and Brennan declined to comment. During an appearance on MSNBC’s
“Andrea Mitchell Reports” in April, Rice denied that she sought to
improperly unveil the names of Trump campaign or transition officials
for political purposes. In recent congressional testimony, Brennan also
has denied that he made any improper unmaskings.
Power did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Nunes
first called for his committee to investigate alleged Obama
administration-era surveillance of Trump and his associates after the
president, in a March 4 tweet, accused Obama of wiretapping Trump Tower.
Officials said at the time that Trump’s wiretap allegations were false.
On
March 15, Nunes and the committee’s ranking Democrat, Rep. Adam B.
Schiff of California, sent a joint letter to the CIA, the NSA and the
FBI asking them to provide the names of any intelligence and law
enforcement agencies, as well as senior executive branch officials, who
requested or authorized the unmasking of any U.S. persons or
organizations between June 2016 and January 2017 related to
“presidential candidates Donald J. Trump and Hillary Rodham Clinton and
their associates in 2016.”
While
the House Intelligence Committee asked only for the names of
administration officials who requested unmaskings related to Trump and
Clinton, intelligence agencies responded to the request by providing a
tally that included requests by lawmakers.
The
tally showed several requests from the House Intelligence Committee —
requests that one official said were no different than those made by
Obama administration officials. “This notion that there are these
politically motivated unmaskings is just nonsense,” said the official.
In
contrast to the committee’s handful of unmasking requests, officials
said the tally showed that Rice requested a single unmasking related to
Trump’s activities between June and January.
The
Republican-led Senate Intelligence Committee made no requests for
unmaskings related to either Trump or Clinton during that time frame,
according to the tally.
At
a House Intelligence Committee briefing in May, Rep. Trey Gowdy
(R-S.C.) pressed Brennan on whether he had ever requested the unmasking
of a U.S. person’s identity. Brennan responded that he had.
Gowdy
then pressed Brennan on whether he was aware of any requests made by
any “U.S. ambassadors,” a possible reference to Power.
Brennan said he was not aware of any unmasking requests by ambassadors.
According
to the ODNI, last year the NSA unmasked at least 1,934 identities of
U.S. persons at the request of government officials. That figure relates
to a certain court-authorized program of foreign intelligence gathering
inside the United States.
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