President Trump said Wednesday he believes former national security adviser Susan Rice committed a crime by seeking to “unmask” the identities of Trump associates in U.S. intelligence reports.
“Do I think? Yes, I think,” Trump said when asked during an interview with the New York Times if he thinks a crime was committed by Rice.
Rice maintains she has done nothing improper.
“I think it’s going to be the biggest story,” Trump said. “It’s such an important story for our country and the world. It is one of the big stories of our time.”
The Times said Trump declined to provide evidence or say if he’s personally reviewed intelligence that backs up his belief.
Rice on Tuesday denied leaking any information about associates of Trump who were caught up in incidental surveillance of legitimate targets, and said there was no political motivation behind requests for their identities. She said she would occasionally receive reports that referred to “U.S. persons” caught up in legal surveillance. Occasionally, she would make a request to the intelligence community for the identities of those people in order to get more context and determine if that person was a danger to national security.
She added it was “absolutely not for any political purposes, to spy, expose or anything.”
Kyle Feldscher contributed
