Former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told "Bill Hemmer Reports" Friday that then-Vice President Joe Biden's request to "unmask" National Security Adviser designate Michael Flynn eight days before President Trump's inauguration was likely due to "legitimate issues."

"I think that goes back to the whole issue of just what exactly was Michael Flynn doing in talking to the Russian ambassador," Panetta told host Bill Hemmer. "If he was talking to the Russian ambassador before he became national security advisor and the [Trump] administration took office, there's a question of whether or not he was trying to interfere with our foreign policy; not having been in office yet."

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"So I think there are some legitimate issues that were asked at the time."

A list of officials who requested that Flynn's identity be revealed in an intelligence report was released Wednesday. Biden submitted his request on Jan. 12, the same day Washington Post columnist David Ignatius reported that Flynn had spoken to then-Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak "several times" on Dec. 29.

Panetta suggested Friday that the release of the list by Sens. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., and Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, was a "political diversion" from the coronavirus pandemic.

"Well, you know, it is a political season so you have to wonder whether or not a lot of this is kind of a political diversion when the country is facing the coronavirus," said Panetta, who has also served as CIA director under former Presiden Barack Obama and White House chief of staff under Bill Clinton.

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"As to whether or not any of this could be established, part of this is going to be resolved in the courts with Judge [Emmet] Sullivan and I assume that there is an investigation going on into the Justice Department that will resolve other issues. So we will just have to wait and see."

Panetta added that it could be difficult to find who may have leaked Flynn's identity to Ignatius, recalling that while Clinton would routinely ask Panetta to look for the source of potential leaks, he found it difficult to determine which staffer was speaking to the press.