The Trump campaign on Wednesday reacted to Joe Biden’s (D) name appearing in a declassified list of Obama administration officials who had requested names to be “unmasked” from November 8, 2016 to Jan 31, 2017, declaring that his claim to ignorance on the “railroading of Gen. Michael Flynn just got even more unbelievable.”
“Joe Biden’s limp claim that he doesn’t know anything about the railroading of Gen. Michael Flynn just got even more unbelievable,” Trump 2020 Campaign Manager Brad Parscale said in a statement following Acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell’s response to a congressional request.
“Biden is listed among the Obama administration officials who requested the unmasking of Flynn. We already knew Biden was briefed on the Flynn case before President Trump took office and now we know that he wanted Flynn unmasked,” he continued.
“Americans have a right to know the depth of Biden’s involvement in the setup of Gen. Flynn to further the Russia collusion hoax,” he added:
As Breitbart News reported:
On Tuesday, following reports that Grenell had declassified the list, Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Ron Johnson (R-WI) wrote to Grenell asking for the list. On Wednesday, CBS News’ Catherine Herridge obtained a copy of Grenell’s response.
Grenell noted that the list was of those “who may have received Lt. Gen. Flynn’s identity,” though they may not have specifically requested Flynn’s name, and it could not be confirmed whether they had actually seen Flynn’s name.
Obama administration officials featured on the list include former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., Samatha Power; former Director for National Intelligence, James Clapper; former CIA director, John Brennan; former White House Chief of Staff, Denis McDonough; former FBI Director, James Comey; and former Vice President Joe Biden:
Biden’s inclusion is significant, as he downplayed the knowledge of the investigation into Flynn during a recent interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos.
“So what did you know about those moves to investigate Michael Flynn and was there anything improper done?” Stephanolpoulos asked.
“I know nothing about those moves to investigate Michael Flynn,” Biden replied:
However, Stephanopoulos pressed the Democrat Party’s presumptive nominee, forcing him to modify his original answer.
Stephanopoulos noted:
You say you didn’t know anything about it, but you were reported to be at a January 5th, 2017, meeting where you and the president were briefed on the FBI’s plan to question Michael Flynn over those conversations he had with the Russian ambassador, [Sergey] Kislyak.
“No, I thought you asked me whether or not I had anything to do with him being prosecuted,” Biden responded, backpedaling his original answer.
“I’m sorry. I was aware that there was — that they had asked for an investigation,” he added. “But that’s all I know about it and I don’t think anything else.”
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