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...The national-security adviser is not an investigator. She is a White House staffer. The president’s staff is a consumer of intelligence, not a generator or collector of it. If Susan Rice was unmasking Americans, it was not to fulfill an intelligence need based on American interests; it was to fulfill a political desire based on Democratic-party interests. ...Thus, Comey added, these consumers “can ask the collectors to unmask.” But the unmasking authority “resides with those who collected the information.”

On Tuesday, Joe Scarborough took The New York Times to task for downplaying revelations that former Obama administration National Security Adviser Susan Rice reportedly requested the unmasking of Trump campaign officials — and he may have a point. In an April 3 piece titled, Trump Tries to Deflect Russia Scrutiny, Citing ‘Crooked Scheme’ by Obama, the paper of record only included the Rice news within the broader story of Trump deriding former president Obama, writing: {..snip..}

...Here's what we can say about the Rice situation at this point. There is precisely zero evidence that Rice used this information — assuming the reports are true — for anything other than her own official purposes or did anything unholy. Unmasking is not leaking, and Rice couldn't have names unmasked without permission from the relevant intelligence agency — a system in place to prevent political abuses. And as President Barack Obama's national security adviser, there could very well have been legitimate reasons for her to ask to unmask individuals in these intelligence reports, which are part of her job....

Obama’s national security advisor is a liar -- and possibly a felon.Former President Obama’s National Security Advisor Susan Rice asked for the names of Trump transition officials to be unmasked and made public in raw intelligence files, according to media reports, a move apparently carried out to harm the incoming Trump administration. As recently as March 22, Rice denied knowing anything about the intelligence reports. In an appearance on “PBS Newshour,” she said pretty definitely, “I know nothing about this.” The new news reports paint Rice as a liar. The evidence we know about in the Trump-Russia saga so far...

As the exploding scandal over the Obama administration’s apparent spy ops on the Trump transition team expands – it’s already being compared by some to Watergate on steroids – there are some who apparently don’t want the information to get around. Like Twitter.

Tuesday on MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports,” President Barack Obama’s national security adviser Susan Rice addressed reports she was responsible for the unmasking of names of Trump associates after the election during the transition period. Rice said unmaking names in intelligence reports she received is standard procedure insisting, “I leaked nothing to nobody,” adding there is “no equivalence” between unmasking and leaking.

Judge Napolitano provides key insight on the Susan Rice “unmasking” scandal.

Fox News, The Daily Mail and Bloomberg News are all reporting the unmaking requests of collected surveillance activity was made by President Obama’s former National Security Adviser Susan Rice. However, it remains unclear if Rice just made the unmasking requests, or if she herself did the unmasking.  Additionally, reporting by all three media outlets claims the surveillance of the Trump campaign encompassed more than a year.

Reporter: "Senator Rand Paul has called the reports that Susan Rice ordered the unmasking of Trump's associates a "smoking gun", does the President agree with that characterization and what does he think of these reports?" Spicer: "There is an ongoing investigation, that we have supported, looking into this matter. I will say there is a troubling direction that some of this is going in. But we're going to let this review go on before we jump to [conclusions]."

A major development in the Obama spy/leak scandal: former Obama national security adviser Susan Rice has been identified as a person who repeatedly requested that associates of Donald Trump (and perhaps Trump himself) be unmasked in raw intelligence intercepts. Eli Lake of Bloomberg reports: White House lawyers last month learned that the former national security adviser Susan Rice requested the identities of U.S. persons in raw intelligence reports on dozens of occasions that connect to the Donald Trump transition and campaign, according to U.S. officials familiar with the matter. The National Security Council’s senior director for intelligence, Ezra Cohen-Watnick, was...

Multiple sources tell Fox News that Susan Rice, former national security adviser under then-President Barack Obama, requested to unmask the names of Trump transition officials caught up in surveillance. The unmasked names, of people associated with Donald Trump, were then sent to all those at the National Security Council, some at the Defense Department, then-Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and then-CIA Director John Brennan – essentially, the officials at the top, including former Rice deputy Ben Rhodes. *snip* Nunes has faced criticism from Democrats for viewing pertinent documents on White House grounds and announcing their contents to the press....

"I know nothing about this." Just 12 Days ago, Susan Rice appeared on PBS News hour and was asked about the “unmasking” scandal that, today, blew up in her face. Her denial is nothing short of astonishing. If this morning’s Bloomberg report is correct, Susan Rice was the Obama admin official demanding the unmasking of Trump transition team members whose protected identities had been swept up in “incidental” intel collection. ...And yet there she was, less than two weeks ago claiming to know nothing about any of it. From the official transcript of the interview:

Computer logs that former President Obama’s team left behind in the White House indicate his national security adviser Susan Rice accessed numerous intelligence reports during Obama’s last seven months in office that contained National Security Agency intercepts involving Donald Trump and his associates, Circa has learned. Intelligence sources said the logs discovered by National Security Council staff suggested Rice’s interest in the NSA materials, some of which included unmasked Americans’ identities, appeared to begin last July around the time Trump secured the GOP nomination and accelerated after Trump’s election in November launched a transition that continued through January. The intelligence...

Video Link Here's a transcript from her March 22nd interview: WOODRUFF: We spoke earlier this evening with former Obama White House National Security Adviser Susan Rice, the author of that piece. It was her first interview since leaving the White House. I began by asking about the allegations leveled today by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes that Trump transition officials, including the president, may have been swept up in surveillance of foreigners at the end of the Obama administration. RICE: I know nothing about this. I was surprised to see reports from Chairman Nunes on that count today. And...

Hopefully sheÂ’ll finish out her career someplace like Leavenworth, if this is trueÂ… Susan Rice, who served as the National Security Adviser under President Obama, has been identified as the official who requested unmasking of incoming Trump officials, Cernovich Media can exclusively report. The White House CounselÂ’s office identified Rice as the person responsible for the unmasking after examining RiceÂ’s document log requests. The reports Rice requested to see are kept under tightly-controlled conditions. Each person must log her name before being granted access to them. Upon learning of RiceÂ’s actions, H. R. McMaster dispatched his close aide Derek Harvey...

Susan Rice, who was former President Barack Obama’s national security adviser, did not respond to a report from Bloomberg columnist Eli Lake that on multiple occasions, she made requests to unmask United States citizens connected to President Donald Trump’s transition team. According to Lake, Rice did not respond to an email seeking comment on the story. The breaking news helps confirm some of President Trump’s accusations that senior Obama officials were involved in disseminating classified information about his transition team to the media, fueling new details about the congressional investigations into Russia’s meddling in the election.

Senior Fox News Correspondent, Adam Housley revealed on Friday that Intel Chair Devin Nunes (R-CA) knows who unmasked the identities of Trump and his close associates. Sources also told him that the unmasking was purely for political purposes to embarrass Trump and had NOTHING to do with national security. Now this.. According to activist and author Mike Cernovich the leaker and unmasker is Susan Rice.

Mike Cernovich ????? @Cernovich BREAKING NEWS! Susan Rice requested unmasking of incoming Trump administration officials 35m Mike Cernovich ????? @Cernovich We know it's you @AmbassadorRice. Bloomberg and NY Times both sat on the story to protect Obama. Have a nice time before Congress.

Journalist/activist Mike Cernovich reports that former White House National Security Advisor Susan Rice obtained intelligence reports showing the identities of innocent Americans who incidentally spoke to foreign officials under security sweeps for spying or intelligence activities. Under U.S. law, U.S. persons are protected from such disclosure, which could be dry-cleaners asking envoys to pick up their laundry or wrong number phone messages spilling their guts about their mothers-in-law. If such U.S. persons get swept up in surveillance, they are protected. But only if they remain 'masked,' which is the law of the land. Cernovich says the White House Counsel's office...

<p>White House lawyers last month discovered that the former national security adviser Susan Rice requested the identities of U.S. persons in raw intelligence reports on dozens of occasions that connect to the Donald Trump transition and campaign, according to U.S. officials familiar with the matter.</p>