(CNN) Attorney General William Barr has tasked a US attorney with reviewing instances of "unmasking" done around the 2016 election, adding the weight of a senior federal prosecutor behind an issue that President Donald Trump has seized on in recent weeks to underpin unfounded allegations about his predecessor. "Unmasking inherently isn't wrong but certainly the frequency, the motivation and the reasoning behind unmasking can be problematic. Senate Republicans later released the list, which named Obama administration officials who "may have received" Flynn's identity in National Security Agency intelligence reports after requests to unmask Americans. While US citizens' names are required to be kept secret in intelligence reports, senior officials have the ability to ask for names to be revealed in certain circumstances to better understand the reports. In the past, some Obama officials have acknowledged requesting that people be identified but have said there were legitimate reasons.

Source: CNN May 28, 2020 03:22 UTC