U.S. citizens involved in the Trump transition had information “incidentally collected” during “normal” foreign surveillance activities unrelated to the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee said Wednesday.
Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., did not say whose communications U.S. intelligence officials intercepted, but said it appeared to take place after the election in November, December and January, citing reports he saw. The congressman, a Trump ally, added that he did not know if Trump’s own communications were caught up in surveillance, though he said it is possible.
“I recently confirmed that, on numerous occasions, the intelligence community incidentally collected information about U.S. citizens involved in the Trump transition,” Nunes told reporters at a press conference. “Details about U.S. persons associated with the incoming administration, details with little or no apparent foreign intelligence value, were widely disseminated in intelligence community reporting.”
Nunes did not share the information with Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff, the House Intelligence Committee’s ranking member, before his press conference, NBC News reported. The pair has recently held joint news conferences about the committee’s Russia probe.
Nunes’ announcement came just two days after FBI Director James Comey confirmed that the agency is investigating alleged Russian interference in the election as part of its counterintelligence activities. That probe includes potential ties between Trump officials and Russia.
The information Nunes referenced Wednesday is not related to a criminal investigation and “appears to be all legally collected foreign intelligence,” he said. The intelligence committee chairman said an unidentified intelligence community source gave him the information but did not go into more detail.
He added that “additional names” of Trump transition officials were “unmasked,” or revealed improperly, without saying who those people are. Nunes said the unmasking “really bothered” him.
After briefing Trump at the White House on Wednesday, Nunes told reporters the revealing of names “goes beyond” former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. Information released about Flynn’s calls with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. contributed to his resignation last month.
The congressman reiterated that he sees no evidence of a physical wiretap at Trump Tower. Nunes said he did not know if any of the information he referenced was collected from inside the New York building.
Trump has stood by his unsubstantiated claim that the Obama administration wiretapped Trump Tower even after the FBI director and bipartisan chairmen and the Senate and House Intelligence communities said they saw no evidence to back the accusation.
Still, Trump told reporters Wednesday he felt “somewhat” vindicated by Nunes’ briefing.
After he briefed Trump, the congressman said he thought it was appropriate to do so, despite concerns of interference with the Russia investigation. The information did not relate to the probe into Moscow’s alleged meddling, he said.
White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Wednesday he did not worry Nunes’ meeting with Trump would create the appearance that the White House is interfering in the investigation.
Nunes said he briefed House Speaker Paul Ryan about the findings and also spoke to the directors of the Central Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency.