The alarming question behind Barr's 'unmasking' probe

[Nevilledog]

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Tweet text: Asha Rangappa
@AshaRangappa_
My latest for @cnn on the real question raised by Barr's failed "unmasking" probe: What, exactly, was Flynn up to that raised alarm bells for so many people?

Opinion: The alarming question behind Barr's 'unmasking' probe
Barr's unmasking investigation answers the question of whether Obama administration officials made legitimate and justified unmasking requests. They did, writes Asha Rangappa. But it raises a new...
cnn.com

https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/14/opinions/real-question-behind-barrs-unmasking-probe-rangappa/index.html

(CNN)Attorney General William Barr's personally ordered an investigation into the Obama administration's handling of intelligence reports -- dubbed "OBAMAGATE!" by President Trump -- apparently ended with a whimper Tuesday. US Attorney John Bash concluded that no substantive wrongdoing took place, people familiar with the matter told The Washington Post.

The implications of this finding are significant, and not good for President Donald Trump.

The crux of this investigation involves "masking" and "unmasking," terms used by the intelligence community to refer to shielding (or revealing) the names of people mentioned in an intelligence report who were not the targets of the investigation.

For example, if the National Security Agency intercepts a conversation between a foreign intelligence target and someone in the United States, a report on that conversation disseminated outside the agency would refer to the American as "U.S. PERSON 1," not by name. This process protects the Fourth Amendment rights of someone who is "incidentally" (though still legally) caught up in our intelligence gathering efforts on foreign targets.

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[genxlib]

1. That's an important story

Thank you for posting it.

I hope this helps keep Flynn under the gun despite Barr trying to let him go.

[Baitball Blogger]

2. Yup. Barr found something. And now we have to hope the paper shredders don't burn

in the late night hour so we can find out exactly what happened.