According to Fox News, legislators and investigators working with the House and Senate Intelligence Committees investigating allegations the Obama administration spied on Trump associates, claim intelligence agencies are stonewalling efforts to discover who leaked names and protected information to the media.
Fox News reported, “Multiple lawmakers and investigators for the panel told Fox News the CIA, FBI and National Security Agency – all agencies in position to aid the probe – are not cooperating.”
One House Intelligence committee source complained, “Our requests are simply not being answered. The agencies are not really helping at all and there is truly a massive web for us to try and wade through.”
A Senate Intelligence Committee source echoed, “Any information that will help find the wide extent on the unmasking and surveillance is purposely not being provided.”
But an FBI spokesperson said the FBO has no ulterior agenda, asserting, “The FBI will continue to work with the congressional oversight committees on their requests.” A CIA spokesperson simply stated that the NSA was the lead agency and Fox News should talk to them.
The NSA bluntly said:
Allegations that the National Security Agency is “withholding information” from congressional intelligence committees investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election are categorically untrue. NSA fully supports the committees’ work. We have already made available significant information in response to their requests, and we look forward to continuing to work with them in the execution of their important responsibilities.
But Fox News claimed one source within the NSA responded, “A number of people saw a lot of very questionable stuff. [The Obama administration was] using national assets and intelligence for politics.”
The FBI’s chief, James Comey, and the NSA chief, Mike Rogers, both served under Barack Obama. They declined to appear at a private closed door House Intelligence Committee briefing in March after they gave public testimony to the committee regarding Russian meddling in the presidential election as well as the alleged mishandling of intelligence regarding President Trump and his associates.
On Wednesday, The New York Times reported that when President Trump was asked whether former Obama National Security Adviser Susan Rice had committed a crime, he responded, “Do I think? Yes, I think.” He added, “I think it’s going to be the biggest story … It’s such an important story for our country and the world. It is one of the big stories of our time.”
One NSA source told Fox News:
A lot of us are upset. We believe this group of people were using national assets for politics and misappropriating them. Don’t forget as the national security advisor, Susan Rice is supposed to ingest and digest. Despite what you are hearing, it is not normal to investigate especially in the broad manner that was being done. She [was] a White House staffer, not a member of an intelligence agency.
