The Unmasking ‘Tool’ (i.e., Samantha Power) Revisited

 

Last November I posted here about that Pathetic UN Ambassador and how she was a useful plaything for her administration, exemplified by the fact that:

…either with or without her knowledge, her name was used to unmask over 260 American citizens…

For her sake, I hope most of that was without her knowledge.

Well, her services for Team Obama are back in the news:

Samantha Power claimed she never tried to unmask Michael Flynn, but records show she unmasked him 7 times.

This one is going to stick with here for a while. Following the link at Instapundit, you find her repeated denials:

Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power testified to Congress in 2017 that she never sought to unmask records containing information about former White House National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. … “I don’t recall making such a request,” Power said. … “Yes, I have no recollection of making a request related to General Flynn,” Power again claimed.

Being fully aware of the verified/certified liars that filled Team Obama, even under oath, something makes me want to believe her. I suspect she was used. Having been largely silenced and controlled for several years (as planned), her name was the one remaining useful tool — an expendable resource in the final months — for further servicing the Team.

Bonus: The article also provides some of the on-the-record virtuoso performance art with his trademark rhetorical crescendos — or is it just more lying — from Adam Schiff:

“And I just want to be clear that there’s no indication you ever made a request or that there necessarily was even a report on the subject. But I did want to get you on the record on that, because at the end of the day that’s sort of where this came from,” Schiff said.

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  1. Dotorimuk Coolidge
    Dotorimuk
    @Dotorimuk

    Why do I suspect all the guilty parties will skate away from all this? Ask Lois Lerner, et al. I can’t even remember the names of all of them anymore. (Who was that other unbearably smug IRS guy?)

    I understand nobody’s going to go after Obama or Clinton – it’s unspoken, but they are above the law. But how about Comey, Brennan, Clapper and the rest? We’re all choking on the smoke, so there’s a blaze somewhere.

    • #1
  2. Fake John/Jane Galt Coolidge
    Fake John/Jane Galt
    @FakeJohnJaneGalt

    Dotorimuk (View Comment):

    Why do I suspect all the guilty parties will skate away from all this? Ask Lois Lerner, et al. I can’t even remember the names of all of them anymore. (Who was that other unbearably smug IRS guy?)

    I understand nobody’s going to go after Obama or Clinton – it’s unspoken, but they are above the law. But how about Comey, Brennan, Clapper and the rest? We’re all choking on the smoke, so there’s a blaze somewhere.

    There is no guilty.  What was done, was done with the full authority of the government.  This is how it works.  The Democrat bureaucracy destroys and the rest may be a bit upset but it will pass.

    • #2
  3. Tex929rr Coolidge
    Tex929rr
    @Tex929rr

    When Obama was first elected I figured all the Clintonistas would be back.  Much to my surprise, the Obama machine had a slew of much less competent people ready to go.  Samantha Power, Van Jones, Susan Rice, Ben Rhodes, etc.  It should no surprise that a cabal of such morons bungled their way into disaster, nor that a man of such limited achievement wouldn’t know any better. 

    • #3
  4. philo Member
    philo
    @philo

    Dotorimuk (View Comment):
    Why do I suspect all the guilty parties will skate away from all this? Ask Lois Lerner, et al.

    I call it the Carol Browner Effect. (And partially blame Bush…reinforcement via dereliction of duty all in the name of getting along with people who hate you anyway.)

    • #4
  5. philo Member
    philo
    @philo

    Tex929rr (View Comment): …the Obama machine had a slew of much less competent people ready to go. Samantha Power…

    It appears she either lied under oath or was horribly wronged. One would think she would want to clear her name. The 260 unmaskings is not new news, yet I’ve seen nothing from her (or her camp or some non-reliably-incurious journalist) to do so. The average observer is left to conclude that she was a willing participant in the sullying of her name and character whether she new about it or not at the time. 

    • #5
  6. Fake John/Jane Galt Coolidge
    Fake John/Jane Galt
    @FakeJohnJaneGalt

    I am trying to understand why you think the Obama people are incompetent?  Seems they were to mostly achieve their goals, both legally and illegally and did not go to jail and are not in any danger of going to jail.  

    • #6
  7. Tex929rr Coolidge
    Tex929rr
    @Tex929rr

    philo (View Comment):

    Tex929rr (View Comment): …the Obama machine had a slew of much less competent people ready to go. Samantha Power…

    It appears she either lied under oath or was horribly wronged. One would think she would want to clear her name. The 260 unmaskings is not new news, yet I’ve seen nothing from her (or her camp or some non-reliably-incurious journalist) to do so. The average observer is left to conclude that she was a willing participant in the sullying of her name and character whether she new about it or not at the time.

    Just part of the soft power dividend.

    • #7
  8. LibertyDefender Member
    LibertyDefender
    @LibertyDefender

    Dotorimuk (View Comment):

    Why do I suspect all the guilty parties will skate away from all this? Ask Lois Lerner, et al. I can’t even remember the names of all of them anymore. (Who was that other unbearably smug IRS guy?)

    I understand nobody’s going to go after Obama or Clinton – it’s unspoken, but they are above the law. But how about Comey, Brennan, Clapper and the rest? We’re all choking on the smoke, so there’s a blaze somewhere.

    There might yet be hope of legitimate redress of grievance, since Samantha Power might be telling the truth when she claims that she never requested unmasking.  An(other) underreported story is that there were contractors given access to secure intelligence community databases that should have been off limits to contractors.  It’s no stretch to conclude that Samantha Power’s credentials were used by others to search those secure databases, and to make requests for unmasking.

    My theory is that the contractors were DNC plants.  Whoever misused Samantha Power’s credentials for trafficking in classified material surely committed multiple felonies.  Samantha Power likely committed a felony by permitting her credentials to be used by others, and by not taking measures to prevent such misuse once she became aware of it.  Though let’s face it, she surely knew about it the whole time, probably suggested it herself.

    This is the tip of another enormous iceberg.  In 2016, the DNC was a wholly owned subsidiary of the Clinton campaign/Clinton Foundation, which was financing the insolvent DNC – and, recall, had veto power over DNC advertisement and public statements.

    So the Democrat Party, acting through contractors who were given access (by, intter alia, Brennan, Clapper, and Comey) to the secure databases of the intelligence community, was operating as the government at the highest levels, spying on Americans and attempting the overthrow of the duly elected President of the United States.

    We might yet get an indictment out of that.

    • #8
  9. Tex929rr Coolidge
    Tex929rr
    @Tex929rr

    Fake John/Jane Galt (View Comment):

    I am trying to understand why you think the Obama people are incompetent? Seems they were to mostly achieve their goals, both legally and illegally and did not go to jail and are not in any danger of going to jail.

    Because none of their projects worked.  He had a supermajority in both houses and managed a failing health care plan, his economic stimulus didn’t work, his foreign policy objectives all failed.  It’s the eternal meeting between theory and reality.  

    The fact that so many progressives now support full blown socialism proves that results don’t really matter to them.

    • #9
  10. Fake John/Jane Galt Coolidge
    Fake John/Jane Galt
    @FakeJohnJaneGalt

    Tex929rr (View Comment):

    Fake John/Jane Galt (View Comment):

    I am trying to understand why you think the Obama people are incompetent? Seems they were to mostly achieve their goals, both legally and illegally and did not go to jail and are not in any danger of going to jail.

    Because none of their projects worked. He had a supermajority in both houses and managed a failing health care plan, his economic stimulus didn’t work, his foreign policy objectives all failed. It’s the eternal meeting between theory and reality.

    The fact that so many progressives now support full blown socialism proves that results don’t really matter to them.

    are you sure those were his goals?  They furthered their agendas, increased their power, gave plenty of money to their cronies, screwed up the GOP power grab and had no scandals.   Looks like all win too me.

    • #10
  11. OldPhil Coolidge
    OldPhil
    @OldPhil

    I’m anxious to see the news media knocking on the doors of, say, those six Treasury Department officials who requested Flynn’s unmasking and asking them what was their interest? One of them is the wife of Maryland Democrat congressman Jamie “Professor Irwin Corey” Raskin.

    See the source image

    • #11
  12. Tex929rr Coolidge
    Tex929rr
    @Tex929rr

    Fake John/Jane Galt (View Comment):

    Tex929rr (View Comment):

    Fake John/Jane Galt (View Comment):

    I am trying to understand why you think the Obama people are incompetent? Seems they were to mostly achieve their goals, both legally and illegally and did not go to jail and are not in any danger of going to jail.

    Because none of their projects worked. He had a supermajority in both houses and managed a failing health care plan, his economic stimulus didn’t work, his foreign policy objectives all failed. It’s the eternal meeting between theory and reality.

    The fact that so many progressives now support full blown socialism proves that results don’t really matter to them.

    are you sure those were his goals? They furthered their agendas, increased their power, gave plenty of money to their cronies, screwed up the GOP power grab and had no scandals. Looks like all win too me.

    Yes, I really think they believed their plans would work.  No scandals is how they love to remember it, but in any normal world lots of careers would have ended.  

    • #12
  13. philo Member
    philo
    @philo

    Interesting:

    One of the names on the list is Samantha Power… …she was said to have made over 200 requests, far more than any other person in U.S. history.

    [emphasis added]

    True? I have no idea. But if it is even remotely close to the truth, the obvious question[s] mount rather quickly. (Note: Investigative Journalism is dead.)

    For starters: Has any other UN Ambassador made any such request? If so, how many? With so many other USG entities directly charged with actual intelligence duties, why is the UN Ambassador making any such requests? Clearly something big was going on over at the UN, shouldn’t there be several books out by now (or at least leaks / brags in the media) from the players involved about these events?

    • #13
  14. philo Member
    philo
    @philo

    philo (View Comment):

    Interesting:

    One of the names on the list is Samantha Power… …she was said to have made over 200 requests, far more than any other person in U.S. history.

    [emphasis added]

    True? I have no idea. But if it is even remotely close to the truth, the obvious question[s] mount rather quickly. (Note: Investigative Journalism is dead.)

    For starters: Has any other UN Ambassador made any such request? If so, how many? With so many other USG entities directly charged with actual intelligence duties, why is the UN Ambassador making any such requests? Clearly something big was going on over at the UN, shouldn’t there be several books out by now (or at least leaks / brags in the media) from the players involved about these events?

    A (potentially) informative exercise for some inquisitive young journalist: I would imagine that at least certain elements of the UN Ambassador’s schedule are a matter of public record. Certainly major travel, when in in NY vs. when in DC, when out of the country, major speeches, major meetings, etc.  It just may be interesting to cross reference the dates of the 206 unmasking requests with the major items on her schedule during that last year in office. You’re welcome.

    • #14
  15. philo Member
    philo
    @philo

    philo (View Comment):

    philo (View Comment):

    Interesting:

    One of the names on the list is Samantha Power… …she was said to have made over 200 requests, far more than any other person in U.S. history.

    [emphasis added]

    True? I have no idea. But if it is even remotely close to the truth, the obvious question[s] mount rather quickly. (Note: Investigative Journalism is dead.)

    For starters: Has any other UN Ambassador made any such request? If so, how many? With so many other USG entities directly charged with actual intelligence duties, why is the UN Ambassador making any such requests? Clearly something big was going on over at the UN, shouldn’t there be several books out by now (or at least leaks / brags in the media) from the players involved about these events?

    A (potentially) informative exercise for some inquisitive young journalist: I would imagine that at least certain elements of the UN Ambassador’s schedule are a matter of public record. Certainly major travel, when in in NY vs. when in DC, when out of the country, major speeches, major meetings, etc. It just may be interesting to cross reference the dates of the 206 unmasking requests with the major items on her schedule during that last year in office. You’re welcome.

    P.S. Did Ambassador Power (use) her USG email account and phone for all of her official business? Did she turn over all of her official communications upon leaving office?  I seems it would be rather easy for her to prove that she did not make all of those requests? …any of those requests?

    • #15
  16. CarolJoy, Above Top Secret Coolidge
    CarolJoy, Above Top Secret
    @CarolJoy

    Fake John/Jane Galt (View Comment):

    I am trying to understand why you think the Obama people are incompetent? Seems they were to mostly achieve their goals, both legally and illegally and did not go to jail and are not in any danger of going to jail.

    Yes it is hard to view them as incompetent. After all, they are certainly not without the trappings of their past offices, their pensions and they remain still quite respected inside the Democrat Criminal Enterprise.

    • #16
  17. Fritz Coolidge
    Fritz
    @Fritz

    Power’s was a non-denial denial. She said she did not recall making a request “regarding General Flynn.

    So if she just requested to unmask the unknown American on the domestic side of a call with some NAMED foreign person, she didn’t “lie – lie”. Just a coincidence! Whaddya know? It just happened to turn out to be General Flynn.

    What a coincidence.  /sarc

    • #17
  18. Stad Coolidge
    Stad
    @Stad

    philo: For her sake, I hope most of that was without her knowledge.

    If it was, she would be the first person to demand an investigation into who was using her good name to rat out unmask people.

    If she wasn’t doing the unmasking herself, she was letting others use her name . . .

    • #18
  19. Gumby Mark (R-Meth Lab of Demo… Coolidge
    Gumby Mark (R-Meth Lab of Demo…
    @GumbyMark

    Fritz (View Comment):

    Power’s was a non-denial denial. She said she did not recall making a request “regarding General Flynn.

    So if she just requested to unmask the unknown American on the domestic side of a call with some NAMED foreign person, she didn’t “lie – lie”. Just a coincidence! Whaddya know? It just happened to turn out to be General Flynn.

    What a coincidence. /sarc

    The identity of Flynn regarding the Dec 29 call with Ambassador Kisylak came about through a means other than unmasking.

    • #19
  20. Gumby Mark (R-Meth Lab of Demo… Coolidge
    Gumby Mark (R-Meth Lab of Demo…
    @GumbyMark

    philo (View Comment):

    Interesting:

    One of the names on the list is Samantha Power… …she was said to have made over 200 requests, far more than any other person in U.S. history.

    [emphasis added]

    True? I have no idea. But if it is even remotely close to the truth, the obvious question[s] mount rather quickly. (Note: Investigative Journalism is dead.)

    For starters: Has any other UN Ambassador made any such request? If so, how many? With so many other USG entities directly charged with actual intelligence duties, why is the UN Ambassador making any such requests? Clearly something big was going on over at the UN, shouldn’t there be several books out by now (or at least leaks / brags in the media) from the players involved about these events?

    These are excerpts from Power’s interview of October 13, 2017 with the House intelligence committee:

    Q from Trey Gowdy:

    “Historically speaking, you are the largest unmasker of U.S. persons in our country’s history”. (p.25)

    According to Adam Schiff, the number of unmasking requests from the U.S. mission to the U.N. increased markedly after her appointment in August 2013 (p.38).

    After being shown the actual number of requests attributed to her, she responded:

    “These numbers are very high numbers, and they’re even higher than what I read in the press.  And I can tell you, I made nowhere near this number of requests.” (p.45)

    Later Power added:

    “I have no way of knowing, whether requests made by people, you know, at my mission, you know, how those are attributed.” (p.80-81)

    It should also be noted that Power was a member of the National Security Council like Susan Rice before her.  Not all U.N. ambassadors are also NSC members and it meant her briefing book would contained more secret information than if she was solely ambassador.

    • #20
  21. Steve C. Member
    Steve C.
    @user_531302
    • I accept the responsibility but not the blame. Let me explain the difference. Those who are to blame lose their jobs. Those who are responsible do not.
      • Richard Nixon: A Fantasy by David Frye (1973)

    This is the way our government works. 

    • #21
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