On Wednesday evening Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) appeared on Fox News’ First 100 Days with host Martha MacCallum where he doubled down on his previous condemnation of former National Security Advisor Susan Rice, who he likened to “Typhoid Mary.”
Cotton also told MacCallum that he hoped Rice would soon be appearing before a congressional committee to explain exactly how it is that she came about to “unmask” members of the Trump campaign and transition teams? Cotton also added that there were legitimate reasons for Rice to have unmasked some of those team members, which is interesting because other national security leaders have said the exact opposite.
For example here’s national security expert Richard Haass, someone who has first hand knowledge of the inner workings of the National Security Council, on just how odd it would be for Rice to unmask anyone.
“The NSC has two jobs… they are there to coordinate foreign policy, and national security, and you are there to be an adviser to the president on foreign policy counseling… It’s not the role of the National Security Council. This is now a legitimate area of inquiry. This is something that needs to be looked into because I can’t imagine the circumstances if this were to have taken place, where it ought to have taken place.”
So, who’s right? Is it normal for the NSC to unmask American citizens? Or is Haas right, and Rice has a lot to answer for?
Here’s Cotton telling MacCallum that Rice better be ready to testify before Congress.
Martha MacCallum: Senator, welcome. Good to have you here today. So you have called Susan Rice, Typhoid Mary. What you mean by that reference?
Tom Cotton: Well, anytime something went wrong in the Obama administration foreign policy, which was often, Susan Rice seemed to turn up in the middle of it, whether is Benghazi… or the Syrian redline, and now this. And I think the vice president is right. There are serious allegations that the intelligence committee will have to review. There are legitimate reasons for someone at the National Security Council to request for an unmasking of an American citizen. But the suggestions of the number of times and the potential political sensitivities do raise serious concerns. And I think it’s appropriate that we take deliberate steps forward to reveal all these records and if necessary, call Susan Rice and to testify.
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