Nunes on Unmasking Subpoenas: ‘Oh, This Is Only the Beginning’ By Debra Heine
https://pjmedia.com/trending/2017/06/05/nunes-on-unmasking-subpoenas-oh-this-is-only-the-beginning/
In a recent broadcast of the John Batchelor Show, Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) of the House Select Intelligence Committee, confirmed that all three subpoenas his committee sent to senior Obama administration officials seek details about the unmaskings of American citizens. He also said that it was “very unusual” for an ambassador like Samantha Power to unmask names of American citizens “under any circumstances.” The chairman made clear that he and his colleagues would not be requesting the information if they didn’t have “probable cause that there was an abuse of power” and that his investigation into possible illegalities was just beginning.
“Oh, this is only the beginning,” Nunes said. “There are many more officials that we have concerns about abusing the intelligence programs.”
Nunes joined Batchelor and Mary Kissel of The Wall Street Journal editorial board last Thursday to discuss the subpoenas sent to former CIA director John Brennan, former national security adviser Susan Rice, and former UN ambassador Samantha Power.
Via John Batchelor at The Daily Beast:
“The subpoenas,” Nunes explained, “actually went to the NSA, the CIA, and the FBI, requesting specifically, of those three individuals that were named, the unmaskings they have done, that they did, from the time period of 2016, the entire year, leading up to Jan. 20 of this year.”
Quickly Nunes focused on the politics of the unmaskings.
“I can’t get into why we chose those individuals, but clearly this is just further escalation in the concern we have of the unmaskings of Americans by the senior leaders of the Obama administration. Americans that didn’t know about it, and, of course, potentially Trump transition officials.”
Nunes clarified his concerns.
“Every American is masked. The intelligence agencies are bound by law to mask all American citizens that get picked up in foreign collection. What has to happen, if you want to find out who the American is—there’s a process and procedure in place for that. It’s actually very uncommon in most cases, and seldom happens. But the concern I have had, that I expressed publicly, quite publicly, actually, a couple months ago, was that it became excessive. That Obama administration officials were unmasking people in the Trump transition, and it made me quite uncomfortable.”
The chairman explained that the subpoenas were necessary because the committee has been waiting since March 15 for answers. “The intelligence agencies have been slow-rolling us, which is what led to these three subpoenas being issued,” he said.
Nunes also told Batchelor that his colleagues have a “particular interest” in Brennan, Rice, and Power, “but I can say that those are not the only ones we have an interest in.”
Nunes expanded on the possibility of an “abuse of power” in the data. “The big problem here is that the people that run these programs are protecting the United States, protecting U.S. citizens from terrorist attacks, from other adversaries that we have around the globe, and we have to protect American citizens from being picked up in these types of foreign intelligence collections. However, what clearly has happened here—at a minimum—I don’t know if it’s illegal, but it’s clearly an abuse of power, that senior Obama administration officials would unmask someone.” CONTINUE AT SITE
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