周三发布的文件显示，美国前副总统乔·拜登(Joe Biden)是十多名奥巴马时代官员中的一员，他们在特朗普交接期间追查一名被政府监视的个人的身份，此人当时不为人知，但后来证明是迈克尔·弗林。
这些披露是在国家安全局之后公开的文件被解密了周三，美国国家情报署代理署长理查德·格雷诺耶(Richard Grenell)推动共和党人、总统及其盟友努力使俄罗斯的调查失去合法性，并指控特朗普的前任对他的前国家安全顾问渎职。
威斯康辛州的共和党参议员罗恩·约翰逊、爱荷华州的查克·格拉斯利和肯塔基州的兰德·保罗要求格内尔提供这一信息。
约翰逊和格拉斯利在一份联合声明中表示:“这些记录是一项重要努力的一步，这项努力旨在查清奥巴马政府在俄罗斯调查期间所做的事情以及弗林中将。”。“我们将继续审查这些信息，并推动更多相关披露，直到我们确信美国人民知道全部真相。”
共和党二人组表示，那些参与揭露真相的人应该披露他们是否看过这些信息，他们为什么要求这些信息，以及他们对这些信息做了什么。议员们说，他们公开了这些名字，“因为美国人民有权知道发生了什么”。这两人还赞扬了格内尔和司法部长威廉·巴尔对他们最初的信息请求的“透明和响应”。
2018年7月10日，星期二，美国前国家安全顾问迈克尔·弗林抵达华盛顿特区联邦法院进行身份听证会。
然而，解密的美国国家安全局文件指出，“虽然下面列出了主要人物，但我们不能确认他们看到了未被掩盖的信息。”这些文件还称，每个人都是“授权接受者”，并且揭露是“通过国家安全局的标准程序批准的”
保罗在新闻发布会上说，拜登“利用政府追捕政治对手是有罪的”，他打算邀请格雷诺耶下周在参议院作证。
美国司法部上周撤销了对弗林的刑事指控，弗林曾向美国联邦调查局(FBI)承认，在当选总统特朗普入主白宫之际，他与一名俄罗斯官员有过接触。弗林随后在2017年2月被解雇，因为特朗普说他在与时任俄罗斯大使谢尔盖·基斯利亚克的接触中向副总统迈克·彭斯撒谎。
在决定放弃此案时，巴尔重复了特朗普的说法，即对弗林的调查是没有根据的。
格林内尔提供的要求揭露真相的奥巴马官员名单还包括前国家情报局局长詹姆斯·克拉珀、前中情局局长约翰·布伦南、前财政部长雅各布·卢、前联邦调查局局长詹姆斯·科米和前奥巴马参谋长丹尼斯·麦克多诺。揭露真相的要求是在2016年11月8日至2017年1月31日之间提出的，目的是揭露美国国家安全局外国情报报告中提到的一个身份不明的人。拜登在1月12日要求揭露真相——在特朗普宣誓就职的八天前。
特朗普阵营嘲笑拜登的请求。
竞选发言人布拉德·帕斯凯尔在一份声明中说:“乔·拜登声称自己对迈克尔·弗林将军的铁路建设一无所知，这种说法更加令人难以置信。”。“美国人有权知道拜登在弗林将军的阴谋中的深度，以此来推进俄罗斯的共谋骗局。”
JOE BIDEN AMONG THOSE WHO SOUGHT TO UNMASK MICHAEL FLYNN, US INTELLIGENCE CHIEF SAYS, DRAGGING NOMINEE INTO RUSSIA CONTROVERSY
Documents released Wednesday showed that former Vice President Joe Biden was among more than a dozen Obama-era officials who pursued the unmasking of an individual being surveilled by the government during the Trump transition who was unknown at the time but turned out to be Michael Flynn.
The revelations, made public after National Security Agency documents were declassified Wednesday by acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell, fuel efforts by Republicans, the president and his allies to delegitimize the Russia investigation and accuse Trump's predecessor of malfeasance with his former national security adviser.
GOP Senators Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Rand Paul of Kentucky requested the information from Grenell.
"The records are one step forward in an important effort to get to the bottom of what the Obama administration did during the Russia investigation and to Lt. General Flynn," Johnson and Grassley said in a joint statement. "We will continue to review this information and push for additional relevant disclosures until we are satisfied that the American people know the full truth."
The GOP duo said that those involved with the unmasking should disclose whether they viewed the information, why they asked for it and what they did with it. They made the names public "because the American people have a right to know what happened," the lawmakers said. The two men also commended Grenell and Attorney General William Barr for their "transparency and responsiveness" to their initial request for the information.
Michael Flynn, former U.S. national security advisor, arrives for a status hearing at federal court in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Tuesday, July 10, 2018.
However, the declassified NSA documents note that "while the principals are identified below, we cannot confirm they saw the unmasked information." The documents also state that each person was an "authorized recipient" and the unmasking was "approved through NSA's standard process."
Paul at a press conference said Biden was "guilty of using government to go after a political opponent" and that he intends to invite Grenell to testify before the Senate next week.
The Justice Department last week dropped the criminal case against Flynn, who had plead guilty for lying to the FBI about his contacts with a Russian official as Trump, who was president-elect, made his transition into the White House. Flynn was then fired in February 2017 because Trump said he lied to Vice President Mike Pence about his contacts with Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador at the time.
In his decision to drop the case, Barr repeated claims by Trump that the probe into Flynn was not warranted.
The list of Obama officials provided by Grenell who requested the unmasking also includes former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, former CIA Director John Brennan, former Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew, former FBI Director James Comey and former Obama Chief of Staff Denis McDonough. The requests for the unmasking was made between Nov. 8, 2016, and Jan. 31, 2017, to reveal the identity of an unknown person referenced in an NSA foreign intelligence report. Biden requested the unmasking on January 12—eight days before Trump was sworn into office.
The Trump campaign derided Biden's request.
"Joe Biden's limp claim that he doesn't know anything about the railroading of Gen. Michael Flynn just got even more unbelievable," campaign spokesman Brad Parscale said in a statement. "Americans have a right to know the depth of Biden's involvement in the setup of Gen. Flynn to further the Russia collusion hoax."
