Samantha Power, who was the US Ambassador to the UN under former President Barack Obama, averaged more than one “unmasking” request for every working day in 2016 — even going so far as to seek the names of Trump associates just before his inauguration, a report says.
Power tried to expose more than 260 people last year, most in the final days of the Obama administration.
She’s one of several including Susan Rice who is under scrutiny for the unusual amount of “unmasking” requests.
The process is ultimately carried out when one wants to reveal the identity of an individual whose name surfaced in foreign intelligence documents.
Her lawyer denied any wrongdoing:
“While serving as our Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Power was also a member of the National Security Council responsible for advising the President on the full-range of threats confronting the United States,” Pressman said. “Any insinuation that Ambassador Power was involved in leaking classified information is absolutely false.”
While the former ambassador has never been mentioned by name, several lawmakers have called out an “official” in recent months, who is reportedly Power, for making hundreds of unmasking attempts during Obama’s final year in office.
The individual was mentioned (see below) in a July 27 letter to Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats from House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) and during a public congressional hearing earlier this year — in which Republican Rep. Trey Gowdy, of South Carolina, questioned former CIA director John Brennan on unmasking:
Notice how uncomfortable Brennan is when asked about the ambassador:
Many believe that Power, along with former National Security Adviser Susan Rice, misused the government process — on account of it being intended for the intelligence community.
SHE’S IN HOT WATER
Power is currently scheduled to testify before the Senate and House Intelligence committees in connection to the Russia probe. She is slated to meet with the House committee during a private meeting in October.
