Sen. Marsha Blackburn criticized Obama administration officials after a list of those who received “unmasking” information concerning retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn was released to the public.
“The Obama Administration abused their power and authority to spy on political opponents,” the Tennessee Republican tweeted on Wednesday.
The Obama Administration abused their power and authority to spy on political opponents.
— Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) May 13, 2020
The tweet followed the release of a memo, declassified by acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell, which contained a list of Obama administration officials who received information in response to unmasking requests targeting President Trump’s former national security adviser.
Among the people on the list were former Vice President Joe Biden, who is the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. His campaign responded to the release by criticizing Grenell, as well as the senators who publicly released the memo for “their gross politicization of the intelligence process.”
Republicans have alleged since 2017 that Obama-era officials improperly unmasked associates of then-candidate Trump’s presidential campaign during the Russia investigation. Democrats have defended the intelligence-gathering process, arguing that the collection of identifying information is inevitable.
Unmasking occurs when U.S. intelligence agencies eavesdropping on foreigners sweep up communications with U.S. citizens in what is known as incidental collection. When the intelligence reporting is shared across the government, names of U.S. citizens are typically concealed or masked to protect their identities, but the names can be unmasked if U.S. officials make the request.
Flynn was Trump’s first national security adviser but was forced to resign in February 2017 when it was believed he misled Vice President Mike Pence and other officials about his contacts with then-Russian Ambassador to the United States Sergey Kislyak during the presidential transition period.
The Justice Department filed on Thursday to dismiss charges against Flynn, who cooperated with special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigators after pleading guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with the Russian diplomat. The judge presiding over the case invited outside opinions on Tuesday and appointed a retired judge on Wednesday to argue against the Justice Department’s motion.
