Biden among those on list of Obama officials who may have received Flynn's identity
DNC communications director Xochitl Hinojosa reacts, calls it a 'distraction' on 'Bill Hemmer Reports.'
Former Vice President Joe Biden was named on a list of top Obama administration officials who purportedly requested to "unmask" the identity of former national security adviser Michael Flynn during the presidential transition period – a revelation that calls into question the presumptive Democratic nominee’s claim a day earlier that he was only “aware” of the investigation into Flynn.
During an interview with ABC’s “Good Morning America,” Biden was pressed by George Stephanopoulos over what he knew about the Obama administration’s moves to investigate Flynn, and whether there was anything improper done.
“I know nothing about those moves to investigate Michael Flynn,” Biden initially said Tuesday, calling the topic a “diversion” from the coronavirus pandemic.
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Stephanopoulos, though, pressed Biden again, questioning whether he attended an Oval Office meeting on Jan. 5, 2017 -- during the presidential transition period -- where Flynn apparently was discussed.
“No, I thought you asked me whether or not I had anything to do with him being prosecuted,” Biden said. “I’m sorry.”
“I was aware that there was—that they asked for an investigation, but that’s all I know about it, and I don’t think anything else ...”
Biden’s denial of having anything to do with the investigations came just a day before he was publicly named on the list of officials that was declassified in recent days by Acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell and then sent to GOP Sens. Chuck Grassley and Ron Johnson.
In a statement on Wednesday, Andrew Bates, Biden's Director of Rapid Response, downplayed the latest Flynn revelations.
"These documents have absolutely nothing to do with any FBI investigation and they confirm that all normal procedures were followed -- any suggestion otherwise is a flat out lie,” Bates said. “What's more, it's telling that these documents were selectively leaked by Republicans abusing their congressional powers to act as arms of the Trump campaign after having them provided by a partisan official installed for this very purpose."
The list revealed that then-U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power made unmasking requests seven times between Nov. 30, 2016 and Jan. 11, 2017. The list revealed that Clapper made three requests from Dec. 2, 2016 through Jan. 7, 2017; and that Brennan made two requests, one on Dec. 14 and one on Dec. 15, 2016. Comey also made a request on Dec. 15, 2016. On Jan. 5, 2017, McDonough made one request, and on Jan. 12, 2017, Biden made one request.
The day McDonough requested the information is the same day as an Oval Office meeting that has drawn scrutiny in the wake of the Flynn developments. The meeting included Obama, Biden, Clapper, Brennan, Comey, then-National Security Adviser Susan Rice and then-Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates.
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Soon after the release of the documents, Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale blasted Biden's claim during his "Good Morning America" interview.
“Joe Biden’s limp claim that he doesn’t know anything about the railroading of Gen. Michael Flynn just got even more unbelievable. Biden is listed among the Obama administration officials who requested the unmasking of Flynn," Parscale said in a statement. "We already knew Biden was briefed on the Flynn case before President Trump took office and now we know that he wanted Flynn unmasked."
Trump himself fired back at Biden while talking to reporters on Wednesday afternoon: "He said he knows nothing about anything,” Trump said, referencing Biden's interview, calling the former VP a "big unmasker."
Fox News' Brooke Singman and Madeleine Rivera contributed to this report.
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