Back in the spotlight at the center of spying allegations on the Trump campaign, 52-year-old former National Security Advisor Susan Rice denied that she leaked information to the press. “I leaked nothing to nobody, and never have,” Rice told Democrat-friendly MSNBC. Denying that she unmasked names of Trump campaign officials “for any political purpose” or spying purposes, Rice cleverly didn’t deny that she unmasked the names of Trump campaign associates. Only that she didn’t do it for political purposes. Rice tainted her credibility as U.N. Ambassador Sept. 16, 2012 when she made the rounds on Sunday morning talk shows insisting the Sept. 11, 2012 Benghazi, Libya attack on the U.S. mission that killed Amb. Chris Stevens and three other Americans were due to spontaneous rioting. Rice knew at the time, as did former President Barack Obama, that it was a carefully planned terrorist attack.
Less than two months before the 2012 presidential election, White House officials worried about the fallout from the Benghazi terrorist attack on the election. Former GOP nominee Mitt Romney hoped to capitalize on Obama’s feckless terrorist policy before the Nov. 4, 2012 election. Rice helped White House officials defuse any political damage by attributing the attack to spontaneous rioting due to a controversial video defaming the Koran. It took a House Select Committee on Benghazi led by Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) months before he unmasked the al-Qaeda attack that killed U.S. diplomatic personnel. Rice’s blunder on national TV talk shows cost her consideration for Secretary of State. Because the National Security Advisor requires no Senate confirmation, Obama stuck Rice in that position. Recent revelations about unmasking Trump associates raise disturbing questions.
With Intelligence committees in the House and Senate investigating whether the Trump campaign coordinated with the Kremlin to beat former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, the focus has now shifted o potentially illegal spying on Trump and his associates. When FBI Director James Comey testified before the House Intelligence Committee March 20, he admitted that the Trump campaign was under surveillance since last July. Comey didn’t admit to the House Intel committee he started his investigation on Hillary opposition research conducted by former MI6 agent Chrstopher Steele. Steele’s file contained unverified dirt on Trump for political purposes. Comey received Steele’s dossier from Trump-detractor Sen. John McCain (R-Az.), who got it from Hillary’s campaign Chairman John D. Podesta, whose hacked emails embarrassed the campaign.
Rice’s denials of using intel on Trump and his campaign associates aim to protecting herself and former President Barack Obama. “This is not anything political as has been alleged,” Rice told MSNBC. “The allegation is that somehow Obama Administration officials utilized intelligence for political purposes. That is absolutely false,” making the same emphatic denials she made to the media right after the Benghazi attacks. When you consider that Hillary was calling Trump a “Russian puppet” before the election, her campaign was actively pursuing Podesta’s theory that Trump & Co. had colluded with the Russians. “The intelligence community made the determination whether the identity of that American individual could be provided to me,” Rice admitted. Obama administration officials insist that Trump’s associates were part of legal “incidental” intel collection efforts.
As National Security Advisor, it’s doubtful Rice would have been involved directly in “unmasking” activities, especially obtaining the names of U.S. citizens under “incidental” surveillance. I receive those reports, as did each of those other officials, and there were occasions when I would receive a report when a U.S. person was referred to. Name not provided, just U.S. person,” Rice admitted, showing, as NSA, she was involved for some reason at the analyst level, something highly unusual for someone in her position. “And sometimes in that context, in order to understand the importance of the report and understand its significance, it was necessary to find out who that U.S. person was,” said Rice, admitting she knew the identities of “unmasked” U.S. citizens subject to incidental intel collection activities.
Rice provides enough information about unmasking the identities of U.S. citizens to know that she was heavily involved in the White House’s attempts to monitor Trump and his associates during the campaign. If Comey started to investigate Trump and associates last July based on unverified Hillary opposition research, there must have been more probable cause than a bogus dossier. Rice insists the Obama White House didn’t abuse the intel community to help Hillary discredit Trump before the Nov. 8, 2016 election. House Intel Chairman Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) confirmed that the Trump campaign was under surveillance by the intel community for issues unrelated to alleged collusion with Russian President Vladimir Putin. If Rice unmasked identities of U.S. citizens tied to the Trump campaign, there’s no possible explanation other than using intel for political purposes.
