I am fascinated by the Grenell memo

Officials who requested the name of the unknown person from intel reports (who would turn out to be Flynn) in mid-December included Treasury, @USNATO, Energy, "Chief Syria Group," and Ambassadors to Turkey and Russia. https://www.grassley.senate.gov/sites/default/files/2020-05-13%20ODNI%20to%20CEG%20RHJ%20%28Unmasking%29.pdf

Those unmasking requests had nothing to do with Flynn's calls to Kislyak, which didn't happen until the end of the month. Whatever reports these officials were reading, which were based on intercepts from which Flynn's name had to be masked, had to do with something else.

But what was Flynn involved in that would have been of concern for people at Energy, Treasury, NATO?

Well, the nuclear reactor deal that Michael Flynn was texting his business partners about during Trump's inauguration would seem to fit the bill.

The request from the Ambassador to Turkey came much later – Dec. 28 – and may have been in connection with one of Flynn's various sketchy Turkey dealings.

But the rest of the requests came in a flurry from Dec. 14-Dec. 16 – from *30 different officials*.

Plus another 5 requests from Jan, and another 4 in early Dec. But in mid-Dec, thirty US officials were briefed on something that made them think they needed to know who the unknown US individual was.

And right now, we have no idea what what these reports or intercepts were.

Now, because "unmasking" is in no way a nefarious activity, to the extent that Republicans' "unmasking" conspiracy theories have any logical coherency to speak of, it's based on a claim that U.S. officials unmasked the name of the U.S. individual in order to leak it to the press.

But the "unmasking" conspiracy theory began in Feb 2017, and it wouldn't be until months later that the first stories about Flynn's shady Middle East nuclear reactor biz would be publicly reported on. And that was after Flynn amended his financial disclosures to name the company.

It's not clear that the reports that led to the mid-December unmasking requests have been reported on. But the first news reports that reference materials that *might* fit the mid-Dec 2016 requests don't seem to be until Dec 2017, after Flynn pled guilty to lying to the FBI.

But those reports have an obvious non-U.S.-official source (Flynn's business partner, Alex Copson) and much of the info he had was publicly released in a letter from by Rep. Cummings. So no evidence there of those mid-December unmasking requests having led to media leaks.

So the existence of previously-unknown intercepted foreign communications that identified Flynn has now been confirmed. But that information didn't come from any of the 30 US officials who requested unmasking.

It came from Acting DNI @RichardGrenell — when he released it today.