“Unmasking” U.S. Citizens Found in NSA Intercepts

The process of “unmasking,” or revealing the true identities of U.S. persons who unexpectedly figure into conversations picked up by National Security Agency (NSA) foreign intelligence collection efforts, has been the subject of much discussion this week in the continuing controversy over Russian interference in last year’s elections.

The issue came up during Monday’s House Intelligence Committee hearing on the Russian controversy, as well as during the White House press briefing, in relation to former Trump administration National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. Flynn resigned after admitting he had lied to Vice President Mike Pence about his phone calls with Russian Ambassador Sergey I. Kislyak.

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