House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) caused something of a stir in March by saying he'd seen classified information suggesting Obama administration officials improperly "unmasked" members of President Trump's transition team — meaning someone in the Obama administration had requested that the NSA identify Trump associates whose names had been redacted in surveillance of foreign officials. Conservative media and Trump pointed the finger at former National Security Adviser Susan Rice, with Trump telling The New York Times he thinks she committed a crime by requesting the unmasking of his team members. Rice and outside experts disagreed.
Now, Republican and Democratic lawmakers have viewed the intelligence Nunes discussed and shared with Trump, and several of them tell CNN they've seen no indication that Rice or any other Obama official did anything unusual or illegal. One congressional intelligence source told CNN that Rice's requests were "normal and appropriate" for a national security adviser, while another said there's no smoking gun, urging the White House to declassify the documents so everyone can see what's in them.
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