Ahmad Sawadogo/Reuters)
President Trump is not the only person involved in the “unmasking process” — a procedure, during the Obama administration, by which the federal government tries to find and make public the identities of the Americans named in reports it makes about foreign leaders.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Rep. Adam Schiff (Calif.), the top Democrats on the House and Senate intelligence committees, also have been asking the Obama administration for answers about what is and is not known about the Trump transition team.
The request came in a letter signed by Schiff and Feinstein, a former member of the Senate intelligence committee, and several others.
Reporters contacted by the Washington Post and other outlets on Tuesday had been waiting for the White House to answer their questions.
Among others that have been on the list is former Trump National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, who has acknowledged he discussed U.S. sanctions with the Russian ambassador before Trump took office. He spoke to the Russian envoy a day before Trump took office and again shortly after, after Flynn held his resignation.
Flynn is “not a Russian, and I have no knowledge of any conversations he had with the Russian ambassador,” National Security Council spokeswoman Lindsay Walters said in the brief statement she issued Tuesday morning.
Asked if the White House would release any memos about Trump’s phone calls with the foreign leaders, Walters told the Post, “It’s very important we release this information.”
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer gave an unrelated statement about the “unmasking” that also appeared to contain a reference to Trump.
“The president has nothing further to add on this matter,” Spicer said in an e-mail.
The story sparked a new round of questions Wednesday from congressional leaders.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), a top McCain critic, called out the president for taking a classified information gathering to make a political point.
He added that he had been concerned about the extent of “unmasking” — revealing intelligence about ordinary citizens, which has become a hallmark of the current Obama administration.