What does 'unmasking' mean in the Michael Flynn controversy - Business Insider

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Here's what 'unmasking' really means and why people are talking about it

Former national security adviser Michael Flynn made headlines this month following several bombshell developments in the Justice Department's case against him and his role in the FBI's Russia investigation.

"Unmasking" is legal and typically occurs when intelligence officials need more context about the surveillance on a foreign actor to make sense of the information they've received. Last week, the department abruptly moved to drop its case against him, sending shockwaves through the country and raising fresh concerns that President Donald Trump's Justice Department, led by Attorney General William Barr, was putting politics above the rule of law.

The intelligence community frequently monitors the correspondence of foreign actors — such as businessmen, or ambassadors — operating on US soil. If the monitored foreign actor is speaking with a US citizen, the US citizen's name will be "masked" on the report or transcript to protect his or her identity.

"Unmasking" occurs when intelligence officials need more context about the surveillance on a foreign actor to make sense of the information they've received.When they overheard him speaking to a "masked" individual about, US intelligence officials would have likely wanted to know if Kislyak was speaking to a friend who had no connection to the topic, or if he was speaking to someone like Flynn, with a political position.

 

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Put on a mask 24/7 Rice. Ur 2 ugly 2 B in public.

Great job breaking down the term 'Unmasking'. I see it thrown all over Twitter, but no one going into detail.✌

So, wait... Honest Americans in a competent administration unmasked Mike Flynn in order to expose someone at a high level of government who was engaged in serious crimes against the United States. Crimes to which the subject later pleaded guilty. Now I understand. OBAMAGATE!

The fact ‘everyone’ is using the phrase but you have to explain it to your readers means you’ve being doing a disservice to them for the last three years

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Federal judge halts the Justice Department's effort to drop its case against Michael Flynn - Business InsiderJudge Emmet Sullivan said that because of the political nature of the case, he expects third parties weigh in on the matter in the coming days. The deep state is real.
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