Susan Rice key in 'unmasking' of Donald Trump campaign officials

The Obama administration’s national security adviser played a central role in “unmasking” several Trump campaign officials who had been swept up in U.S. surveillance operations against foreign targets during last year’s presidential election campaign, according to current White House officials and sources on Capitol Hill.

Susan E. Rice requested that names be provided for otherwise unidentified U.S. people in dozens of raw intelligence reports relating to the Trump campaign, the sources told The Washington Times on Monday.

While Ms. Rice’s actions and alleged interest in the Trump campaign appear to have been within her legal authority as national security adviser, the potentially explosive revelation has touched a nerve in Washington and stirred speculation that she could be called to testify on Capitol Hill about Russian election meddling.

“Smoking gun found! Obama pal and noted dissembler Susan Rice said to have been spying on Trump campaign,” Sen. Rand Paul, Kentucky Republican, wrote Monday on his Twitter feed.

As of Monday night, Ms. Rice had made no public comment on the situation, first reported by Bloomberg View and confirmed by the sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity with The Times.

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