Picked up during surveillance of foreign targets. Theres no equivalence between masking and leaking. Effort to ask for the identity of an american citizen is necessary to understand the importance of an Intelligence Report in some instances. Reporter u. S. Citizens identities are hidden or masked in Intelligence Reports on foreign targets. Several officials have the power to request the unmasking of those anonymous people if they feel it will help them understand the intercepted communications. Sean spicer questioned whether it was political. It depends on what they were asking and what they were trying to accomplish. Reporter rice said she requested the names to understand why they were appearing in Intelligence Reports. The allegation that somehow obama officials utilized intelligence for political purposes, thats absolutely false. Reporter retired general Michael Hayden ran the nsa during the george w. Bush era. The process that is described is perfectly normal and on its face did n