Rice denies Obama administration inappropriately unmasked Trump team

Former national security adviser Susan Rice on Tuesday categorically denied that the Obama administration inappropriately spied on President Trump or members of his transition team.

“The allegation is that somehow, Obama administration officials utilized intelligence for political purposes,” Rice told MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell. “That’s absolutely false.”

Rice had requested that at least one Trump transition team member be “unmasked,” Bloomberg reported Monday, leading to claims that the Obama White House had intended to use that intelligence to damage Trump’s transition.

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“The notion, which some people are trying to suggest, that by asking for the identity of the American person is the same is leaking it — that’s completely false,” Rice said. “There is no equivalence between so-called unmasking and leaking.”

Rice also flatly denied exposing Trump’s own former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, who was forced to resign in February after media reports revealed that he misled Vice President Pence about the contents of his discussions with the Russian ambassador.

“I leaked nothing to nobody,” she said.

Two anonymous U.S. officials told Bloomberg's Eli Lake that the former Obama national security adviser was the one who requested unmasking Trump administration officials in raw intelligence files since viewed by Reps. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) and Adam SchiffAdam SchiffRice denies Obama administration inappropriately unmasked Trump team The Susan Rice ‘smoking gun,’ and why it matters House intel Dem: Panel 'getting back to business' on Russia investigation MORE (D-Calif.), the heads of the House Intel Committee. 

Trump immediately extorted the press to "start talking about the Obama SURVEILLANCE SCANDAL” — but intelligence experts caution that the reports don’t mean that Obama or even Rice surveilled Trump officials. 

The national security adviser has the authority to request the unmasking names if there is a compelling national security reason to do so.

“I don’t solicit reports,” Rice said Tuesday. “They're giving it to me, if I read it, and I think that in order for me to understand, is it significant or not so significant, I need to know who the ‘U.S. Person’ is, I can make that request.”

Nothing in the Bloomberg report, Rice emphasized, backs up President Trump’s claim that the former President Obama “wiretapped” Trump Tower. 

“There was no such collection or surveillance on Trump Tower or Trump individuals, it is important to understand, directed by the White House or targeted at Trump individuals,” Rice said. 

—Ben Kamisar contributed. Updated at 12:29 p.m.