Dan Abrams: Trump Allegations Against Susan Rice ‘Reckless’
During an appearance on Good Morning America, Mediaite Founder and ABC News Legal Guy Dan Abrams discussed the controversy surrounding Susan Rice. President Trump has now said the former Obama National Security Advisor may have committed a crime for requesting the “unmasking” of names of Trump campaign officials caught up in surveillance.
As Abrams reminded viewers, unmasking requests, by themselves, were “routine.”
“It’s not just that it’s not a crime,” he said. “It’s actually pretty routine for someone in her position to make that sort of request.”
Abrams went on to say that while it was possible to create a scenario where illegal activity occurred, it was “reckless” to suggest impropriety without any evidence.
“There are hundreds of requests that are made every day by people with her level of clearance, that if done for the wrong reasons, if done for political reasons, if done on behalf of a foreign agent, could be possibly criminal, but let’s not start talking about possibly criminal unless there’s something to back that up,” he said. “If [Trump’s] not going to tell us why, let’s not talk about it until there are charges pending, until they’re moving forward with a serious investigation, etc. It’s just reckless.”
Co-panelist Matthew Dowd was in agreement.
“This smells like a diversion,” he said. “When a fire is burning in one place, he tries to start a fire in another place.”
Watch above.
[image via screengrab]
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