Former National Security Adviser Susan Rice was supposed to testify Tuesday in front of the House intelligence committee but has postponed, according to reports confirmed by Breitbart News.
She was to testify in a closed hearing about her unmasking the identities of Trump campaign and transition team associates who were swept up in surveillance of foreign targets.
During that surveillance, Americans’ names are masked for moral, privacy, and legal reasons, but U.S. officials can request the unmasking of their identities through a formal process.
The House intelligence committee is looking into the issue of improper unmasking of campaign officials and politicians and have subpoenaed the NSA, CIA, and FBI for records related to Rice, former CIA Director John Brennan, and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power.
Several news outlets reported in March that Rice had unmasked members of Trump’s campaign and transition team members during that surveillance. A conversation between Russian Ambassador and former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn was illegally leaked to the Washington Post in February.
Rice originally told PBS that she “knew nothing” about unmasking. Later she acknowledged that she engaged in unmasking Trump officials but has insisted that it was not politically motivated and only did it when it related to national security matters.
This would have been the first time Rice testified since those reports that she unmasked Trump’s associates, although she has given interviews to MSNBC and other friendly outlets.
Rice recently told the New York Magazine that she believes this is an extension of her being targeted by the right since erroneously saying the September 2012 Benghazi attack was due to spontaneous protests, not a planned terrorist attack, and suggested her race and gender played a role.
Rice has already turned down testifying to the Senate Judiciary Committee, with her lawyer arguing that the request to testify was not bipartisan. Ranking Member Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) contacted Rice and told her he objected to it, reportedly leading her to reject the request.
Power is expected to testify before the House intelligence committee before the August recess, according to Fox News.
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