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Susan Rice Tag

It seems ages ago, but was just a couple of months ago that controversy swirled around former National Security Advisor Susan Rice's "unmasking" of names from classified intelligence reports. We reported on the inconsistencies in Rice's story on April 3, Susan Rice unmasked? Previously said “I know nothing about” Nunes allegations, and the following day on her interview by Andrea Mitchell, Susan Rice: Sought unmasking but “absolutely not for any political purpose”:

Following revelations that Susan Rice sought the unmasking of Americans purportedly caught up in incidental surveillance, Rice is on Congress' short list of persons to testify on Russian hacking.  She has, through her attorney, declined Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC)'s request to do so. CNN reports:
Obama's former national security adviser, on Wednesday declined Sen. Lindsey Graham's request to participate in a judiciary subcommittee hearing next week on Russian interference in the US election, CNN has learned.

On Tuesday, almost 60 people died in Syria when warplanes dropped bombs filled with chemicals. Many suspected President Bashar al-Assad's regime for the attack. Many survivors went to Turkey and the Turkish Health Ministry announced that preliminary tests showed the poison in the bombs was sarin. Well, former President Barack Obama's national security advisor Susan Rice said in January that the administration forced Assad's regime to purge its chemical weapons.

My post, At this point, anti-Trump Russia hysteria smells like Ben Rhodes-style echo chamber, has received a pretty good reaction. The basis thesis was that what is happening to Trump when it comes to Russia is similar to the admitted deception and media echo chamber created by Ben Rhodes, communications point man for the Obama administration's push for the Iran nuclear deal. That deception involved the false narrative of nuclear talks sparked by a newly-found moderation in the Iranian regime, and the creation of a self-sustaining echo chamber of naive media and aligned pro-Iranian interest groups. The goal was not just to advance the Iran nuclear deal, but also to provide cover for the overall objective of a Grand Bargain with Iran, giving Iran regional hegemony. While the anti-Trump Russia echo chamber doesn't mirror the Iran echo chamber precisely in details, it's pretty close when it comes to creating a similar effect.

On CNN this morning, Chris Cuomo said to Republican Senator Mike Lee of Utah, "Breitbart is using you as a poster boy. You know that is the president's viewing of choice. He loves to see what they put out. They are using you as the poster boy that Susan Rice was politically motivated in unmasking." Cuomo told Lee, "it does seem as though you're saying Rice has to prove it wasn't politically motivated for me to believe that it wasn't. And that's not fair." Retorted Lee: "That is an absolutely absurd manipulation of what I said. That is not at all what I said. I did in fact say that something like this could have happened. I did in fact say it's not absurd to suggest something like this could have happened. And every time I've said anything like that, it's been accompanied by 'I don't know what Susan Rice did. I don't know the facts of the case."

Susan Rice is at the center of the storm over reports that she "unmasked" the names of Trump campaign and transition officials, as described in our prior post, Susan Rice unmasked? Previously said “I know nothing about” Nunes allegations. Given Rice's past tattered history with regard to the Benghazi video, it's almost a certainty that there now will be dual track congressional investigations -- of alleged Trump campaign interactions with Russia and Obama administration attempts to undermine the incoming administration. Seeking to quiet the storm, Rice appeared on Andrea Mitchell's MSNBC show. Mitchell would be viewed as a safe space for Rice in which Rice could explain away the issue.

I appeared earlier today on America Talks Live, with Steve Malzberg. The discussion centered on two big developments today, the reports that Susan Rice "unmasked" Trump campaign and transition officials names from intelligence reports, and the Neil Gorsuch nomination and the threat of a filibuster. On Rice, Steve used my post earlier today, Susan Rice unmasked? Previously said “I know nothing about” Nunes allegations. Here are some of my comments:

Obama National Security Adviser Susan Rice, infamous for lying repeatedly on national television about the Benghazi attack being the result of a video, may be at the center of the "unmasking" scandal uncovered by Congressman Devin Nunes. We covered yesterday how Dems want Devin Nunes removed, but can’t unhear unmasking allegations. Eli Lake at Bloomberg News reports on the discovery of a suspicious pattern of unmasking requests by Rice near the end of the Obama administration, Top Obama Adviser Sought Names of Trump Associates in Intel:

Last week, I wrote about the emails uncovered by Judicial Watch related to Hillary's clear knowledge, the night of the Benghazi attack, that it was a terror attack unrelated to the video she publicly blamed for starting a protest. Emails involving the false video story lead directly to the White House and were a coordinated attempt to focus blame on the video rather than on Obama's failed policies. Judicial Watch reported in 2014:
Judicial Watch announced today that on April 18, 2014, it obtained 41 new Benghazi-related State Department documents. They include a newly declassified email showing then-White House Deputy Strategic Communications Adviser Ben Rhodes and other Obama administration public relations officials attempting to orchestrate a campaign to “reinforce” President Obama and to portray the Benghazi consulate terrorist attack as being “rooted in an Internet video, and not a failure of policy.”  Other documents show that State Department officials initially described the incident as an “attack” and a possible kidnap attempt. The documents were released Friday as result of a June 21, 2013, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed against the Department of State (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of State (No. 1:13-cv-00951)) to gain access to documents about the controversial talking points used by then-UN Ambassador Susan Rice for a series of appearances on television Sunday news programs on September 16, 2012.  Judicial Watch had been seeking these documents since October 18, 2012.

As all hell breaks loose across the Middle East, another member of the Obama administration is focusing on the important issues. Fred Lucas of The Blaze reported:
Susan Rice Calls for Climate Action, LGBT Equality in National Security Plan National Security Advisor Susan Rice said the United States must take a longer view on national security, in a speech that focused as much on gender and LGBT equality and climate change as Islamic State terrorism and Russian aggression. “The issues is not simply about when we should have started arming the Syrian rebels or whether we should provide lethal assistance to Ukraine,” Rice said in a speech to the Brookings Institution when introducing President Barack Obama’s 2015 National Security Strategy. “It’s about the nature of U.S. leadership for the future. With this national security strategy, we stake out a much larger role for America in shaping the world while anticipating the challenges to come.”... She went on to frame the national security aspects of climate change, which she said the administration is addressing with its “groundbreaking climate commitment with China.” “American leadership is addressing the very real threat of climate change. The science is clear,” she said. “The impacts of climate change will only worsen over time. Even longer droughts, more severe storms, more forced migration.”...