Fox News' focus on the IC's "unmasking" capabilities took an even more bizarre turn when former Rep. Allen West told the crew at Outnumbered, "I'm wondering, have I been one of these people that have been unmasked," after having conversations with Gen. Flynn.
Allen West was interviewed for a post in the Trump administration even though he has as controversial a past as anyone of Trump's supporters.
West was forced to resign from the military instead of facing a court martial back in 03' and Trump's SOS, Gen. Mattis said this about West, " A commander who has lost his moral balance or has watched too many Hollywood movies.”
But in conservative circles he's a hero. Go figure.
Fox News' Outnumbered played a clip of Sen. Grassley's questions at the hearing to open the show and the program was more worried that James Clapper and Sally Yates denied leaking any classified information to the press than anything else we learned during Monday's Judiciary Committee hearing.
Co-host Sandra Smith said the American people have a lot of questions about the unmasking of people and asked West his concerns.
West said, "You have to be absolutely incredulous for these people [Clapper and Yates] to sit here and say 'we have no idea.'
Suddenly conservatives have a problem with the Patriot Act. Wow, who knew?
He continued, "This is one of the big concerns the American people have with the whole Patriot act thing. In the wrong hands - the government will be out there listening to you and uncovering your names and doing things."
Does Allen West even know how Gen. Flynn's lies were caught by the IC? It was on a FISA warrant to snoop on the Russian ambassador and Gen. Flynn got picked up in incidental collection with a foreign operative.
"I'm being very honest with you all. I had conversations with Gen. Flynn after the election was won. So I'm wondering, have I been one of these people that have been unmasked," West said.
Harris Faulkner took it a step further into the bizarre and asked, "If you knowingly had been unmasked or if anybody has contacted you..."
"Nobody has said anything to me, but you know, you just have to wonder."
No, you don't have to wonder. You weren't unmasked, you moron-- unless you yourself are a foreign agent and the IC knows about it. But wonder aloud about that on Fox and their idiot viewers will think you're a victim of some conspiracy and therefore relevant.
It's interesting that after Trump tweeted instructions to the Republicans on the Judiciary Sub-Committee before the Sally Yates hearing began.
Fox News has rallied around Trump and focused only on the leaks coming from Trump's White House instead of the revelations surrounding Gen. Flynn's behavior. No one at Fox is asking why Trump kept Flynn on for eighteen more days after finding out he was at risk of being blackmailed by the Russians.
The consistent message in yesterday's hearing was that "unmasking" is a legal way for an investigator to gather context about a foreign suspect speaking to a US Citizen. Leaking is an illegal act, releasing classified information to the press.
No one cares about Allen West at CIA, because he won't shut up about himself on Fox. There is literally no "intelligence" to gather there.
