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Sen. Lindsey Graham on Thursday questioned the intent of Obama administration officials\u00a0involved in the unmasking<\/a> of former White House national security adviser Michael Flynn<\/a>, saying such action should only be done for clear national security reasons.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere is the concern: If you don\u2019t have a national security reason, you\u2019re basically spying on a political opponent,\u201d the South Carolina Republican told \u201cFox & Friends<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is the national security reason to unmask Gen. Flynn in transition? I can\u2019t think of one. But, I do believe, given their behavior, they\u2019re looking to get rid of Flynn and if they used our intelligence apparatus to basically act on a political vendetta, that\u2019s chilling to every American and would be very wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

TUCKER SHREDS OBAMA OFFICIALS: ‘AMORAL CREEPS’ DESTROYED FLYNN’S LIFE<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Graham’s comments came after\u00a0comments come after it was revealed top\u00a0Obama administration officials purportedly requested to “unmask” the identity of Flynn during the presidential transition period, according to a\u00a0list of names<\/a>\u00a0from that controversial process made public on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

The list<\/a>\u00a0was declassified in recent days by acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell\u00a0and then sent to GOP Sens. Chuck Grassley and Ron Johnson, who made the documents public.\u00a0The roster features top-ranking figures including then-Vice President Joe Biden \u2014\u00a0something that is already being raised by the Trump campaign in\u00a0the bare-knuckle 2020 presidential race in which Biden is now the Democrats’ presumptive nominee.<\/p>\n

The list also includes then-FBI Director James Comey, then-CIA Director John Brennan,\u00a0then-Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, and Obama’s then-chief of staff\u00a0Denis McDonough.<\/p>\n

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Graham argued that top Obama administration officials \u201chated” Flynn\u00a0and wanted to prevent him from taking the job as Trump’s national security adviser.<\/p>\n

\u201cWas this an effort to undermine Flynn or to undermine national security? I talk to foreign leaders all the time about my differences with Obama’s foreign policy,” Graham said.<\/p>\n

“If I found out they are listening to my conversation and reporting back to the White House what I am saying to foreign leaders, that violates the separation of powers. This is a big deal.”<\/p>\n

Fox News’ Gregg Re,\u00a0Brooke Singman<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0David Spunt<\/a>\u00a0contributed to this report.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Get all the latest news on coronavirus and more delivered daily to your inbox. Sign up here.Sen. Lindsey Graham on Thursday questioned the intent of Obama administration officials\u00a0involved in the unmasking of former White House national security adviser Michael Flynn, saying such action should only be done for clear national security reasons.\u201cHere is the concern:…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30759,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[492,2471],"class_list":{"0":"post-30758","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-graham","9":"tag-looks"},"yoast_head":"\n