Former Rep. Trey Gowdy talked about how investigators could track down who leaked classified details about retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn’s contacts with a Russian envoy.
A declassified memo containing a list of Obama administration officials who received information in response to “unmasking” requests pertaining to Flynn, President Trump’s first national security adviser, was made public on Wednesday.
Gowdy, who is also a former federal prosecutor, was asked during a Fox News appearance how he would determine who repeatedly leaked to the media about Flynn.
“The sphere of suspects is way too big because too many people have the power to unmask, but you are guaranteed not to get the right answer if you don’t ask,” the South Carolina Republican said.
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. The names can be unmasked, however, if U.S. officials make the request.
Republicans have alleged since 2017 that Obama-era officials improperly unmasked associates of then-candidate Donald Trump’s presidential campaign during the Russia investigation. Democrats have defended the intelligence-gathering process, arguing that the collection of identifying information is inevitable.
Gowdy named a few people whom documents show were privy to the Flynn intercepts, including former United Nations Ambassador Samantha Power, former national security adviser Susan Rice, and former Vice President Joe Biden, who is now the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.
“Stop and think of all of the Trump campaign folks that they got on false statements. Well, you’re never going to get a false statement if you don’t interview them,” Gowdy said.
“So, how many folks have you put under oath with a responsibility to tell the truth — legal responsibility — and ask them, ‘Did you leak Mike Flynn’s name to the media?’ My guess is not many,” he added.
Classified details about Flynn’s conversations with the Russian ambassador were repeatedly leaked to the Washington Post in January and February of 2017. The sources of these leaks are not known publicly.
Fox News host Tucker Carlson reported on his show Wednesday that “missing” information on the Flynn unmasking list suggests a grand jury has been impaneled.
“According to a knowledgeable source, a portion of the relevant information is missing from this latest document release. That could be a sign that some evidence is now in the hands of a grand jury impaneled to consider charges against whoever did this,” he said. “We don’t know that’s true, we certainly hope it is.”
John Durham, the U.S. attorney picked by Attorney General William Barr to investigate the origins of the Trump-Russia inquiry, is scrutinizing the Flynn unmaskings and subsequent politicized leaks as part of his inquiry.
Gowdy was asked what it means if these Obama officials have not already been questioned about the Flynn leaks.
“It tells us the FBI doesn’t give a damn about leaks,” he replied. “They care a whole lot more about false statements to their agents than they do 10-year felonies for disseminating classified information, and that’s just a damn shame.”
Flynn was briefly Trump’s first national security adviser but was forced to resign in February 2017 as 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.
