READ: Senators Johnson, Grassley ask for more “unmasking” details


“Agamemnon Mask,” National Archeological Museum, Athens.

Amid the revelations about dozens of Obama administration requests to “unmask” Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn’s conversations that were “incidentally” picked up by surveillance of other figures, just prior to multiple leaks about Flynn to the press, two Republican senators are asking for more information.

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin), who heads the Homeland Security Committee; and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who chairs the Finance Committee, have sent a letter to Attorney General William Barr and Acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell.

One of the most significant unanswered questions about what occurred during the 2016 election is how many Americans were ‘unmasked,’ at whose request, and for what purpose.

Senators Johnson and Grassley, May 12, 2020 letter

The senators are asking to see “all information regarding the ‘unmasking’ of U.S. persons requested by members of President Obama’s administration around the time of the 2016 election through January 2017.”

Read the letter below:

May 12, 2020

Ambassador Richard Grenell

Acting Director

Office of the Director of National Intelligence

The Honorable William P. Barr

Attorney General

U.S. Department of Justice

Dear Ambassador Grenell and Attorney General Barr:

Based on recent press reports, it is our understanding that you conducted a classification review and declassified information related to numerous requests to “unmask” the names of U.S. persons who appeared in certain intelligence reporting around the time of the 2016 election through January 2017.

We wholeheartedly agree that transparency is needed more now than ever.  One of the most significant unanswered questions about what occurred during the 2016 election is how many Americans were “unmasked,” at whose request, and for what purpose.[1]  Your recent decision to declassify dozens of footnotes from the report of the Department of Justice’s Office of the Inspector General about the investigation of the Trump campaign;[2] the declassification and disclosure of transcripts of related interviews by the House Intelligence Committee; and the disclosure of exculpatory information related to the prosecution of Lt. General Michael Flynn, paint a more and more troubling picture of the conduct that we have been investigating since 2017.  However, we firmly believe that the best way to resolve these issues is to determine the truth, and to make clear to the American people what did and did not occur.

For these reasons, we respectfully request that you make available to us, as soon as possible, all information regarding the “unmasking” of U.S. persons requested by members of President Obama’s administration around the time of the 2016 election through January 2017.

Sincerely,

Ron JohnsonChairmanSenate Committee on Homeland Securityand Governmental AffairsCharles E. Grassley                                       Chairman                                                         Senate Finance Committee

[1] Ron Johnson, We need answers to questions mainstream media won’t ask about Democrats, The Hill, Oct. 10, 2019,https://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/politics/465241-we-need-answers-to-questions-mainstream-media-wont-ask-about; Letter from Chairman Grassley, Ranking Member Feinstein, Senator Graham, Senator Whitehouse to Director Coats (May 26, 2017); Letter from Chairman Grassley to Attorney General Barr and Acting Director Grenell (May 12, 2020).

[2] Press Release, IG Footnotes: Serious Problems with Dossier Sources Didn’t Stop FBI’s Page Surveillance (Apr. 15, 2020),https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/media/majority-media/ig-footnotes-serious-problems-with-dossier-sources-didnt-stop-fbis-page-surveillance-.

Full text of the letter can be found below and a PDF can be viewed here.

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2 thoughts on “READ: Senators Johnson, Grassley ask for more “unmasking” details”

  1. If someone in an intelligence agency wants to unmask someone they can’t just do it. There must be a procedure in place. What is that procedure, how is the request to unmask documented, who finally authorizes the unmasking. That is what we need to know. This request by Grassley still doesn’t address who leaked classified information to the media. No one should lose sight of that felony. A Special Prosecutor was named to find out who leaked Valerie Plame’s name to the media in the run up to the 2nd Iraq War. This demands the same.

  2. Specifically, I’d ask if Kislyak and Flynn were on watch lists at NSA. Did Obama’s people know that Flynn was talking to Kislyak? Is that why they wanted the details of Kislyak’s conversations, because they knew that Flynn was talking to him, and this would be a way to backdoor Flynn electronically? The failure to find and prosecute whoever leaked Flynn’s name is a bad sign for Obama et al. Given the skulduggery surrounding the efforts to trap Flynn that followed shortly thereafter, the unmasking needs to be aired completely. All of it.

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