WASHINGTON, D.C. — An investigation into instances of “unmasking” related to the 2016 election has concluded without any charges filed or a public report being released, according to the Washington Post.
Attorney General William Barr tasked U.S. Attorney John Bash to lead the investigation into “unmasking,” which refers to the process in which names involved in National Security Agency foreign intelligence reports are released, related to the election.
Bash’s investigation found no evidence of “substantive wrongdoing,” and wrapped up without any charges filed or the release of a report of the investigation’s findings. Bash left his role with the Department of Justice last week.
The investigation was announced in May, after former acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell declassified a list of names of former Obama administration officials who allegedly requested the “unmasking” of Michael Flynn, Trump’s first national security advisor, according to CNN.
Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Ron Johnson (R-WI) later released the list, which included former Vice President Joe Biden’s name.
The Biden campaign said that Biden’s name on the list “simply indicate the breadth and depth of concern” regarding Flynn’s actions.
“I’m alleging nothing,” Sen. Johnson said when the list was released.
“Sen. Grassley and I released that because we think the American people have the right to know and it raises a lot more questions than it answers. So we’ll be asking a lot more questions,” he added.
Republicans seized upon the “unmasking” as a massive scandal. President Trump has repeatedly made baseless allegations that then-President Obama spied on his successful 2016 presidential campaign, even going as far as to accuse his predecessor of “treason.”
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) called it “biggest thing since Watergate” in an interview with Fox News.
Sources told the Washington Post that it will “likely disappoint” those who have claimed Flynn and Trump were targeted as part of a massive conspiracy.
Bash was appointed by President Trump to the position of United States Attorney in Dec. 2017, according to the DOJ’s website. He previously served in the Department of Justice as an Assistant to the Solicitor General from 2012 to 2017, and he served as Associate Counsel to the President in 2017.
“I appreciate his service to our nation and to the Justice Department, and I wish him the very best,” Barr said in a statement upon his resignation.
