Washington (CNN)Former
national security adviser Susan Rice privately told House investigators
that she unmasked the identities of senior Trump officials to
understand why the crown prince of the United Arab Emirates was in New
York late last year, multiple sources told CNN.
The
New York meeting preceded a separate effort by the UAE to facilitate a
back-channel communication between Russia and the incoming Trump White
House.
The
crown prince, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, arrived in New York
last December in the transition period before Trump was sworn into
office for a meeting with several top Trump officials, including Michael
Flynn, the president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and his top
strategist Steve Bannon, sources said.
The
Obama administration felt misled by the United Arab Emirates, which had
failed to mention that Zayed was coming to the United States even
though it's customary for foreign dignitaries to notify the US
government about their travels, according to several sources familiar
with the matter. Rice, who served as then-President Obama's national
security adviser in his second term, told the House Intelligence
Committee last week that she requested the names of the Americans
mentioned in the classified report be revealed internally, a practice
officials in both parties say is common.
Rice's
previously undisclosed revelation in a classified setting shines new
light on a practice that had come under sharp criticism from the
committee chairman, California Rep. Devin Nunes, and President Donald
Trump, who previously accused Rice of committing a crime.
But
her explanation appears to have satisfied some influential Republicans
on the committee, undercutting both Nunes and Trump and raising new
questions about whether any Trump associates tried to arrange
back-channel discussions with the Russians.
"I
didn't hear anything to believe that she did anything illegal," Florida
Rep. Tom Rooney, a Republican helping to lead the panel's Russia
invesigation, told CNN of Rice's testimony. He declined to discuss any
of the contents of her classified remarks.
Through
a spokeswoman, Rice declined to comment about her testimony. Nunes
refused to answer questions when asked about Rice Tuesday evening.
It's
unclear precisely which Trump officials Rice discussed at the House
meeting. But multiple sources have confirmed to CNN that Zayed met at
the time with Flynn, Kushner and Bannon. The three-hour discussion
focused on a range of issues, including Iran, Yemen and the Mideast
peace process, according to two sources who insisted that opening up a
back-channel with Russia was not a topic of discussion.
Still,
the fact that the New York meeting occurred prior to the Seychelles
session and that the UAE did not notify the Obama administration about
why the crown prince was coming to the United States has raised
questions in the eyes of investigators on Capitol Hill.
A secret meeting in the Seychelles
But
the Trump Tower meeting came shortly before the UAE brokered a meeting
to open lines of communications with the United States and Russia, with a
clandestine January meeting in the Seychelles Islands in the Indian
Ocean, according to reports in CNN and The Washington Post. That meeting
is now under investigation on Capitol Hill, though it's unclear whether
Rice mentioned the Seychelles meeting in the testimony.
A
senior Middle East official told CNN that the UAE did not "mislead" the
Obama administration about the crown prince's visit, but acknowledged
not telling the US government about it in advance. The meeting, which
took place December 15, 2016, the official said, was simply an effort to
build a relationship with senior members of the Trump team who would be
working in the administration to share assessments of the region.
"The
meeting was about ascertaining the Trump team's view of the region and
sharing the UAE's view of the region and what the US role should be,"
the official said. "No one was coming in to sell anything or arrange
anything."
A spokesperson for the crown prince declined to comment.
The
Seychelles meeting -- and the circumstances around it -- has been a
subject of interest to Hill investigators looking at any potential link
between the Trump campaign and Russia.
The
Washington Post initially reported in April that the UAE brokered a
pre-inauguration meeting between the founder of the security firm
Blackwater, Erik Prince, who is a close Trump ally, and an associate of
Vladimir Putin's in the Seychelles Islands. The purpose of the meeting
was part of an effort by the UAE to persuade Russia to curtail its
relationship with Iran, including in Syria, according to the Post.
And
it occured shortly after Bannon, Flynn and Kushner also met in Trump
Tower with Zayed, whom the Post said helped arrange the Seychelles
meeting with Russia government officials to set up the private
discussions with the Trump team.
But
the senior Middle East official told CNN this week that Prince's name
was not discussed at the Trump Tower meeting. And Prince himself has
said he did nothing wrong, telling CNN's Erin Burnett last month: "I was
there for business."
Both the White House and Prince have strongly denied that Prince was working as a liaison for the Trump administration.
Prince said he met with a Russian while at the Seychelles but "I don't remember his name."
"It probably lasted about, as long as one beer," he said about the meeting.
Explaining 'unmasking'
For
her part, Rice had been called to the House Intelligence Committee to
testify partly over what Nunes and other Republicans believed was an
abuse in the practice of "unmasking" -- or revealing the identities of
Americans who were communicating with foreign officials under
surveillance by the US intelligence community. Simply unmasking the
names of individuals in classified reports does not mean that their
identities will be revealed publicly, and Rice denied to the committee
that she leaked classified information to the press, sources familiar
with the matter said.
But Rice's
suggestion that she unmasked the names of US individuals -- who turned
out to be Trump associates -- over concerns about the propriety of the
crown prince's visit to the United States could help her fend off
attacks that she was out of line in the actions she took.
Rep.
Trey Gowdy, a South Carolina Republican who is helping lead the House
investigation, told the Daily Caller "nothing that came up in her
interview that led me to conclude" that she improperly unmasked the
names of Trump associates or leaked it to the press.
Sarah
Sanders, the White House press secretary, did not say explicitly
whether Trump still believes Rice committed a crime but added the issue
of leaking and unmasking needs to be investigated.
"We've
seen illegal leaking of classified materials, including the identities
of American citizens unmasked in intelligence reports," Sanders told
CNN.
"That's why the President called for Congress to investigate this
matter and why the Department of Justice and Intelligence Community are
doing all they can to stamp out this dangerous trend that undermines our
national security."
Nunes was
forced to step aside from running the Russia investigation amid a House
ethics inquiry into whether he improperly disclosed classified data. The
ethics inquiry came in the aftermath of his bombshell comments that
Obama administration officials had improperly unmasked the names of
Trump associates, a revelation that Trump used as cover for his
unsubstantiated claim that Obama had Trump Tower wiretapped during the
election to spy on him. The Justice Department said in a court filing
Friday that the DOJ and the FBI have no evidence to support Trump's
claims.
But on Tuesday, the
Republican who took over the investigation from Nunes said there was no
reason to bring Rice in for further questioning.
"She
was a good witness, answered all our questions," Rep. Mike Conaway, the
Texas Republican now running the House Russia probe, told CNN. "I'm not
aware of any reason to bring her back."
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