Posted on 03/23/2017 4:47:32 AM PDT by Enlightened1
The Washington Post's Bob Woodward warned on Wednesday that there are people from the Obama administration who could be facing criminal charges for unmasking the names of Trump transition team members from surveillance of foreign officials.
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., said earlier that he had briefed Trump on new information, unrelated to an investigation into Russian activities, that suggested that several members of Trump's transition team and perhaps Trump himself had their identities "unmasked" after their communications were intercepted by U.S. intelligence officials.
The revelation is notable because identities of Americans are generally supposed to remain "masked" if American communications are swept up during surveillance of foreign individuals.
During an interview on Fox News, Woodward said that if that information about the unmasking is true, "it is a gross violation."
He said it isn't Trump's assertion, without proof, that his predecessor wiretapped Trump Tower that is of concern, but rather that intelligence officials named the Americans being discussed in intercepted communications.
"You can learn all kinds of things from diplomats gossiping, because that's what occurs. Under the rules, and they are pretty strict, it's called minimization. You don't name the American person who is being discussed," Woodward said.
He noted that there are about 20 people in the intelligence community who, for intelligence reasons, can order this "minimization" be removed.
"But the idea that there was intelligence value here is really thin," Woodward said. "It's, again, down the middle, it is not what Trump said, but this could be criminal on the part of people who decided, oh, let's name these people."
He drove the point home, adding that "under the rules, that name is supposed to be blanked out, and so you've got a real serious problem potentially of people in the Obama administration.."
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonexaminer.com ...
I found it interesting to watch this exchange again given the news from yesterday:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eI8Eag_9LJ8
Woodward is on the trail. Team Kenya might be able to skate on the “incidental” collection of intel but their goose is cooked if the spying was unmasked and “widely disseminated”.
Doubt it. Obama is above the law. Proved it over and over.
All that has to happen is to hit Obama with one allegation and make it stick. It will be downhill from there. problem is no one has the balls to go after Obama.
No white man law ever touch the O-man. He the magic you-know-what.
I smell Ben Rhodes and John Brennan.
This story needs a JOHN DEAN. Someone on the inside has to spill the beans and testify against the wrong doers
Either the Russians were intentionally careless - wanting to get caught - or group exists that wanted to pin their crimes on the Russians.
It is truly amazing how the talking heads and the politicians can refer to information obtained by surveillance on one hand, and the next instant avow that Trump was not surveilled. The sin for them lies in the unmasking of the surveillance that never took place, a sin that is not quite as evil as Trump supposedly lying about being surveilled.
I think I need help understanding this.
Either the Russians were intentionally careless - wanting to get caught - or group exists that wants to pin their crimes on the Russians.
Dr., you might be wrong on this one. Trump, Gowdy, Pense, Sessions for starters.
“No white man law ever touch the O-man”
You mean you don’t think he has fled the country because he thought the end was near?
The task is too great
Six hundred million pages can’t be widely dissiminated
Personally, I’m real interested in the Justice Roberts pages.
He will wake up one mornin dead. No fuss, no muss, just dead
And you can bet that information was making it’s way to Hillary and the DNC through Obama and his henchmen too.
That might be part of the reason that the DNC refused to allow the FBI access the DNC servers when they were investigating the eMail hacking.
The ones doing this type of talk are part of it and do not want to go to jail with the rest.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.