WaPo | Every day, U.S. intelligence agencies sweep up vast quantities of
foreign communications. Sometimes, they pick up communications involving
U.S. individuals or organizations. In reports based on those
communications, intelligence agencies “mask” the identities of the
Americans, part of an effort to protect their privacy.
Senior
government officials, however, can ask spy agencies to reveal the names
of Americans or U.S. organizations in the reports if they believe that
doing so will help them better understand the underlying intelligence.
They must have a legitimate need to know, and National Security Agency
unmaskings are reviewed by the Justice Department and the Office of the
Director of National Intelligence, known as the ODNI.
Some
officials said that House Intelligence Committee members may not have
realized spy agencies would count their requests as unmaskings. These
officials said lawmakers submitted questions that intelligence officers
could answer only by revealing the identities of U.S. individuals.
Nunes
served subpoenas this week to the CIA, the NSA and the FBI asking for
information about unmaskings requested by three former officials:
national security adviser Susan E. Rice, CIA director John Brennan and
U.N. ambassador Samantha Power.
On Thursday, Nunes tweeted,
“Seeing a lot of fake news from media elites and others who have no
interest in violations of Americans’ civil liberties via unmaskings.”
Democrats
on the panel say they believe the latest direction of Nunes’s
investigation is designed to deflect attention from the Russia probe. In
April, Nunes was forced to recuse himself from the committee’s probe of
Russia because of allegations he may have inappropriately disclosed
classified information. Nunes has denied any wrongdoing.
Current
and former U.S. intelligence officials say requests for unmaskings are a
routine and necessary part of their national security work. After
requests are made, spy agencies decide whether to provide the names.
Officials say few requests are rejected because most are legitimate.
Still,
senior officials know that unmaskings can be controversial and are
often reluctant to submit large numbers of requests. To protect
themselves from any allegations of abuse, spy agencies track unmasking
requests closely.
Rice and Brennan declined to comment. During an
appearance on MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” in April, Rice denied
that she sought to improperly unveil the names of Trump campaign or
transition officials for political purposes. In recent congressional
testimony, Brennan also has denied that he made any improper unmaskings.
Power did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
