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Ahead of Election, Trump Attacks Russia Probe, Democrats

Associated Press

   WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump and Republicans are launching a
   broad election-year attack on the foundation of the Russia
   investigation, including declassifying intelligence information to try
   to place senior Obama administration officials under scrutiny for
   routine actions.

   The effort has been aided by a Justice Department decision to dismiss
   its prosecution of former Trump administration national security
   adviser Michael Flynn, an action that rewrites the narrative of the
   case in a way that former federal law enforcement officials say
   downplays the legitimate national security concerns they believe
   Flynn's actions raised and the consequences of the lies he pleaded
   guilty to telling.

   The dismissal decision comes as Trump and his Republican allies push to
   reframe the Russia investigation as a "deep state" plot to sabotage his
   administration, setting the stage for a fresh onslaught of attacks on
   past and present Democratic officials and law enforcement leaders.

   "His goal is that by the end of this, you're just not really sure what
   happened and at some gut level enough Americans say, 'It's kind of
   messy,'" said Princeton University historian Julian Zelizer.

   The latest indication of that came Wednesday when two Republican
   critics of the Russia investigation, Sens. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and
   Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, disclosed a list of names of Obama
   administration officials who they say may have received Flynn's
   identity from intelligence reports in 2016 and 2017. Among the names is
   Trump's Democratic opponent, Joe Biden, who was vice president when the
   Russia probe began.

   Names of Americans are routinely hidden, or minimized, in intelligence
   reports that describe routine, legal surveillance of foreign targets.
   U.S. officials must make a specific request if they want to know the
   person's identity, or "unmask" them.

   Biden and the other officials had full authority to seek the name of
   the unidentified American in the reports -- it turned out to be Flynn
   -- and did so through proper channels, according to Trump
   administration documents. Rather than reveal any actual wrongdoing, the
   release of the information by the president's allies seems designed to
   create suspicion around Biden and other senior Democrats as the
   November election approaches.