Former national security adviser Susan Rice acknowledged to the House Intelligence Committee that she unmasked the identities of top Trump officials in order to find out why the United Arab Emirates’ crown prince was in the U.S., CNN reported. The Washington Post previously reported that the UAE was involved in setting up a back channel for Trump transition officials to communicate with Russia. The crown prince, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, traveled to New York to meet with transition officials, including Jared Kushner, Steve Bannon, and Michael Flynn. But the UAE government reportedly did not notify the Obama administration of the visit, as is the protocol. Rice told the committee, which is investigating Russian interference in the election, that she asked to know the names of those Americans.
