A recent article by Blasting News reported on three subpoenas that were issued by the House Intelligence Committee to the NSA, CIA and the FBI to find out if the "unmasking" of Trump's campaign associates was politically motivated. The ability for the committee to conduct such an investigation in itself is politically motivated and because of that, the only way they can conduct such an investigation under the guise of political motivation. The article points to the chance that they might already know that the effort would be unpopular and so they have not made a great deal about it, allowing the view that the investigation is on the Trump administration to dominate the narrative.
White House 'arming' against media
But a careful pursuit on their part could gain momentum as the Trump administration means to target Leaks by changing up his communications team. One operation from the White House that is reportedly underway is the creation of a war room to go up against the media for reporting about the ongoing investigation on the collusion between Russian officials and the Trump campaign. Press Secretary Sean Spicer already started to lockdown on questions this week as seen during a Wednesday press briefing where he said that all questions related to the Russia investigation would need to go to their new outside council Marc Kasowitz.
Republicans focus on 'unmasking', not Russian interference
House panel issues seven subpoenas on Russia probe, including three tied to 'unmasking' of Trump campaign officials https://t.co/3unAh6xcn2
— Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) May 31, 2017
According to one report by the Wall Street Journal, republicans feel that by targeting the "unmasking" issue with the intelligence community, they can better target the source of leaks that are damaging the administration.
The leaks have been consistent where they have revealed conversations the Trump administration recently had with Russian officials, some of them revealing classified information. President Trump said recently that the fact that many of the news reports say that "officials" have said something or that those sources who say they want to remain anonymous, probably did not exist at all calling those reports fake news.He suggested in this case that the claims are fictionalized, made up and that the Russia investigation was made up by the Democrats for losing the election to him.
Blasting News also reported on a hearing which took place with James Comey earlier in the year, where all the Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee grilled Comey and Rogers over the leaks, which was a completely different pursuit from what the hearing was supposed to be over. Comey has since been fired by the Trump administration which also set a new direction to investigation the administration, with hearings from other former officials, including Comey. after his firing. So far, Republicans have been reluctant to acknowledge that there should be an investigation on the Trump administration and even said there are other priorities.
