House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes was correct to take his information concerning reports of electronic surveillance of Trump Tower to the president, as he had no other choice, fellow committee member Rep. Pete King said Friday.
"What happened here is you had legal surveillance, probably wiretapping of foreigners talking to foreigners," the New York Republican told Fox News' "America's Newsroom" program. "That's allowed under the FISA act, but when an American's name is mentioned, it should be masked or blacked out."
Most likely, he continued, the intercepted conversations had nothing to do with Russia or criminal investigations, but was "likely small talk, but the president-elect of the United States and people close to him and his transition team were unmasked."
Further, the information was sent through the intelligence community, including to the Obama White House, said King, rather than being masked and sealed as required by law, and to him, that sounds more like surveillance than incidental collections.
In the case of former national security adviser Michael Flynn, conversations appear to have been intercepted through a wiretap, said King. However, he said, in the information Nunes disclosed this week, the conversations appear to be between foreigners, with Trump campaign staffers' names surfacing.
"Under the law, anytime an American's name is mentioned it has to be taken out," said King. "Instead, it was disseminated and there's no reason for it."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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