Earlier this week, reports came in that Susan Rice, the national security adviser from 2013 to early 2017, requested the identities of some of President Donald Trump’s associates be “unmasked” in intelligence reports. Rice is no stranger to political scandals: in 2013, she was grilled for her handling of the bombing at the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya. But what exactly did Rice uncover when combing over the reports, and were her actions that unusual, or illegal? Let’s take a deeper look.

What Did Rice Do?

U.S. intelligence services routinely surveil communications of foreign actors. Sometimes, American citizens are at the other end of these communications. A handful of Trump’s campaign associates are suspected of communicating with Russian government officials or businessmen, and therefore, were anonymously “swept up” in intelligence reports on the Russian actors. Usually, the identities of U.S. citizens who are included in foreign surveillance reports are kept hidden, or masked.

Rice, as first reported in Bloomberg View on Monday, repeatedly sought to “unmask” the identities of Trump’s associates who were caught up in the intelligence reports during the campaign. In an interview on MSNBC on Tuesday, Rice explained her thought process:

There were occasions when I would receive a report in which a U.S. person was referred to–name not provided, just a U.S. person–and sometimes in that context, in order to understand the importance of the report, and assess its significance, it was necessary to find out, or request the information as to who the U.S. official was.

She did not, however, agree with her critics that her unmasking requests were for political gain. “The allegation is that somehow the Obama Administration officials utilized intelligence for political purposes,” she said. “That’s absolutely false.”

Is What She Did Illegal?

No, it’s not. Federal law does indeed allow the national security adviser, which Rice was at the time, to request the identities of U.S. persons in intelligence reports for “context.” And there is no evidence she acted to benefit the Obama Administration, or Trump’s opponent at the time, Hillary Clinton. That’s not stopping Trump, who first claimed Obama wiretapped Trump Tower in a now-infamous tweet in early March, from reaching that conclusion.

“It’s such an important story for our country and the world,” he said in an interview Wednesday with the New York Times. “It is one of the big stories of our time.” He did not elaborate, nor did he provide any fresh evidence to vindicate his earlier claims about Obama wiretapping him, or that Rice’s actions were politically motivated or criminal.

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), a leading member of the House committee that is probing Trump’s and his associates’ ties to Russia, suggested on Wednesday that Rice could be subpoenaed to testify in front of the committee. “Whether she has pertinent testimony or not, I can’t say. If she does, we’d be happy to have her come in,” he said. He categorically rejected people who try to “besmirch the reputation” of Rice.

“I don’t know what it is about Susan Rice that has always drawn the conspiracy theories of that Breitbart crowd,” he said. “But they’re at it again and it is a disservice to someone who is a public servant.” Some Republicans are looking at the new reports as potential evidence that Rice was politically motivated in her handling of the intelligence reports.

“Every presidential administration from FDR through Nixon, the administration in power used intelligence agencies to engage in political espionage,” Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) said in an interview with CNN’s Chris Cuomo on Wednesday. “Human behavior hasn’t changed. Technology has changed and made a lot of this simpler. We have to be on the lookout for it.” While Lee did not conclude Rice’s actions amount to a political or criminal act, he did say it is “not absurd to suggest something like this could have happened.”

Alec Siegel

Alec Siegel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. When he’s not working at Law Street he’s either cooking a mediocre tofu dish or enjoying a run in the woods. His passions include: gooey chocolate chips, black coffee, mountains, the Animal Kingdom in general, and John Lennon. Baklava is his achilles heel. Contact Alec at ASiegel@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post What You Need to Know About Susan Rice’s “Unmasking” of Trump Associates appeared first on Law Street.

After the ouster of Michael Flynn last week, President Donald Trump on Monday chose another highly decorated general as his National Security Adviser: Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster. The appointment was met with widespread approval; McMaster is as respected for his battlefield strategy as he is for his intellectual rigor.

McMaster was not Trump’s first choice to replace Flynn, however. Robert Harward, also a general, declined the post last week. Flynn resigned after reports surfaced that he misled Vice President Mike Pence about the content of his phone calls with the Russian ambassador during the transition period.

At a press conference on Monday, Trump called McMaster, 54, a “man of tremendous talent and tremendous experience.” He added that McMaster “is highly respected by everyone in the military, and we’re very honored to have him.” Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona), a vocal critic of Trump over the past few weeks, said the president made an “outstanding choice,” and called McMaster a “man of genuine intellect, character, and ability.”

Congratulations to our new National Security Advisor, General H.R. McMaster. Video: https://t.co/BKn9r225Kk pic.twitter.com/VBXcJ1b6Pv

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 21, 2017

But despite his qualifications and reputation, McMaster is set to lead a national security apparatus that is largely dismayed by Trump’s first month in office, and is trying to navigate the outsize influence of Trump’s Chief Strategist Steve Bannon. Unlike Flynn, and others in Trump’s orbit, McMaster does not see the West as being in a “clash of civilizations” with Islam. In fact, while serving in the Iraq War, he allied his forces with Islamic militants who had killed Americans in order to defeat al-Qaeda. Instead of vilifying all of Islam, he sought to turn Muslims against the more radical, jihadist strains. He also forbid his troops from using derogatory terms for Muslims.

Time will tell if McMaster, known for being an independent-minded leader who is unafraid to stand up to his superiors, will advise the president on national security issues, as his post is meant to, or if he will be forced to yield to the vision of Bannon and Trump. For his part, McMaster said he is “grateful” for the opportunity. Sitting with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach on Monday, McMaster said he will do “everything I can to advance and protect the interests of the American people.”

Though he is lauded for his battlefield exploits–he earned a Silver Star during the Persian Gulf war in 1991–his 1997 book “Dereliction of Duty” was widely acclaimed, and serves as a sort of blueprint for his views. The book was an in-depth critique of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for failing to stand up to President Lyndon Johnson during the Vietnam War.

“The war in Vietnam was not lost in the field, nor was it lost on the front pages of the New York Times or the college campuses,” he wrote. “It was lost in Washington, D.C.” McMaster will now be plunging deep into the place and the system he has previously critiqued, at a time when its leader, Trump, has not shown much deference to his appointees, no matter their experience or expertise.

But for now, McMaster is a welcome maven of stability for an administration that has been anything but. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), the highest ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, tweeted his approval of McMaster on Monday: “McMaster is solid choice, bright & strategic. Wrote the book on importance of standing up to POTUS. May need to show same independence here.”

Alec Siegel

Alec Siegel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. When he’s not working at Law Street he’s either cooking a mediocre tofu dish or enjoying a run in the woods. His passions include: gooey chocolate chips, black coffee, mountains, the Animal Kingdom in general, and John Lennon. Baklava is his achilles heel. Contact Alec at ASiegel@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Meet the New National Security Adviser: H.R. McMaster appeared first on Law Street.