UPDATE: The list of names has been released. Read it here.
Senators Chuck Grassley and Ron Johnson sent a letter to Attorney General Bill Barr and Acting DNI Richard Grenell Wednesday asking for the names of Obama officials who unmasked General Michael Flynn, and other Americans close to the Trump campaign, to be released.
"We wholeheartedly agree that transparency is needed more now than ever. One of the most significant unanswered questions about what occurred during the 2016 election is how many Americans were 'unmasked,' at whose request, and for what purpose. Your recent decision to declassify dozens of footnotes from the report of the Department of Justice’s Office of the Inspector General about the investigation of the Trump campaign; the declassification and disclosure of transcripts of related interviews by the House Intelligence Committee; and the disclosure of exculpatory information related to the prosecution of Lt. General Michael Flynn, paint a more and more troubling picture of the conduct that we have been investigating since 2017," they wrote.
"However, we firmly believe that the best way to resolve these issues is to determine the truth, and to make clear to the American people what did and did not occur," the letter continue. "For these reasons, we respectfully request that you make available to us, as soon as possible, all information regarding the 'unmasking' of U.S. persons requested by members of President Obama’s administration around the time of the 2016 election through January 2017."
Unmasking Americans for political purposes is illegal. Further, General Flynn's name was leaked to the press, which is also against the law.
Sources close the process tell Townhall the Department of Justice currently has no plans to release the list of names, which were declassified by Grenell late last week. Another source says the list will be released soon, but not by Grenell. Who would release it remains unclear.
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