Trump Unmasks Obama’s Unmaskers
The administration’s attempt to explain what happened to Michael Flynn isn’t very revealing.
The president and his first national security adviser.
Photographer: George Frey/Getty Images North AmericaEver since Michael Flynn resigned as President Donald Trump’s national security adviser three years ago, the president and his allies have taken a keen interest in the practice of “unmasking.” Now his administration has revealed the names of the Obama officials who learned Flynn’s name in intelligence reports — but the information is hardly a smoking gun.
Unmasking is a practice that allows senior officials to request the names of U.S. citizens caught up in the surveillance of foreign targets. Former President Barack Obama’s national security adviser, Susan Rice, made dozens of requests during the presidential transition to unmask the identities of U.S. citizens. On Wednesday, responding to a request from Senator Charles Grassley, the acting director of national intelligence, Ric Grenell, declassified a list of 39 Obama administration officials who made unmasking requests between November 8, 2016, and January 31, 2017, that yielded Flynn’s name in National Security Agency intercepts.