When Americans who are not the target of a warrant are mentioned in reports about such surveillance,
their identities are obscured, and they are typically referred to as U. S.
But top officials, like the national security adviser, can ask the intelligence agencies to disclose the names, a process called unmasking.
After Representative Devin Nunes, the Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, announced last month
that he had seen reports indicating that Mr. Trump or his associates might have been “incidentally” swept up in the monitoring of foreigners, Ms. Rice told PBS: “I know nothing about this.
Former national security officials have said that Ms. Rice was justified in asking for the names
of Trump associates referred to in reports that intelligence agencies sent to her last year.
The purpose, she said, was “to do our jobs,” but “absolutely not for any political purpose, to spy, expose, anything.”
She added that she had never made public the identities of any Trump associates mentioned in intelligence surveillance.
Mr. Trump said on Monday that he had been the target of a “crooked scheme” by Mr. Obama’s team,
and he followed up on Tuesday by retweeting a link from the Drudge Report: “RICE ORDERED SPY DOCS ON TRUMP?”
Fellow Republicans seized on reports about Ms. Rice in the conservative news media.
At issue are her requests for the identities of Americans caught up in electronic surveillance of foreigners,
as cited in reports provided to her by intelligence agencies: Americans who were affiliated with Mr. Trump.