Leakers awake

Outlets including ABC News, FOX News, and the Daily Caller all have stories on the declassification and possible release of the names of Obama administration officials who sought the unmasking of Michael Flynn’s name in transcripts of his intercepted conversations with Sergey Kislyak. Acting DNI Richard Grenell has reportedly prepared the list and declassified it.

Someone on the list is highly likely to have leaked word of the conversations to Washington Post reporter Adam Entous and columnist David Ignatius in January 2017. Unless President Obama authorized the leaks, they constitute serious violations of law for which there has been barely any hint of a remedy to date. Whether or not President Obama authorized the leaks — his name may be on the list — they open a window onto the biggest scandal in American political history. Obama’s FBI was running an operation against Donald Trump both as candidate and as president. Let the flop sweat begin or continue, as the case may be.

UPDATE: This afternoon we learn, however, that while officials said Attorney General Barr could release the names “at any time,” a senior department official told ABC News that “we do not intend to release the list.” We shall see. Perhaps a knowledgeable source who has been briefed on the situation can leak it, preferably to us.

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