Samantha Power, a U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under former President Barack Obama, put in more than 260 unmasking requests regarding intelligence reports last year — and submitted others just days before President Donald Trump was inaugurated.
Fox News reported Wednesday that Power's rate of unmasking requests was more than one per day of the work week. Many of those requests reportedly occurred in the latter part of 2016.
Power was a member of the National Security Council, but Fox News reported that former U.S. ambassadors to the U.N. made less than 100 unmasking requests.
Unmasking is a process in which the names of Americans caught up in surveillance reports are revealed to officials. It is designed to provide a better understanding of pieces of intelligence, but there have been accusations the Obama administration was unmasking members of the Trump campaign and transition teams.
In July, House Intelligence Committee chairman Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., said the panel discovered that an Obama administration official whose job did not involve intelligence gathering had made hundreds of unmasking requests. At the time, Power was reported to be that official.
Power is expected to answer questions from the House Intelligence Committee next month in a closed session.
It was reported this week that Paul Manafort, a former chairman of the Trump campaign, was electronically surveilled last year and early this year. He is currently being investigated for potentially violating IRS laws and other allegations surrounding his international political consulting business.
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