by WorldTribune Staff, February 13, 2018
On the final day of the Obama administration, an email national security adviser Susan Rice sent to herself indicated there were discussions of withholding classified information on Russia from the Trump administration, two Republican senators say.
Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said they discovered the “unusual email” Rice sent to herself on Jan. 20, 2017.
In the email, Rice wrote: “From a national security perspective, however, President Obama said he wants to be sure that, as we engage with the incoming team, we are mindful to ascertain if there is any reason that we cannot share information fully as it relates to Russia.”
The email was referencing a Jan. 5 Oval Office meeting Rice attended with Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, FBI Director James Comey and Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates.
According to reports, on the same day, Comey briefed Obama on the unverified Trump dossier by ex-British spy Christopher Steele.
In an email they sent to Rice last week, Grassley and Graham noted: “It strikes us as odd that, among your activities in the final moments on the final day of the Obama administration, you would feel the need to send yourself such an unusual email purporting to document a conversation involving President Obama and his interactions with the FBI regarding the Trump/Russia investigation.”
Grassley and Graham said a portion of Rice’s email contained classified information that remains redacted. Rice also wrote of the Jan. 5 meeting: “The President asked Comey to inform him if anything changes in the next few weeks that should affect how we share classified information with the incoming team. Comey said he would.”
Rice said that Obama began the Jan. 5 meeting “by stressing his continued commitment to ensuring that every aspect of this issue is handled by the Intelligence and law enforcement communities ‘by the book.’ ”
Grassley and Graham say they question whether the Obama administration conducted the Trump investigation “by the book.”
The two senators recently sent a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein referring Steele for possible criminal investigation for misleading the FBI about his work on the dossier.
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