Rice said Trump's accusation is "absolutely false" and that members of Congress have not found anything inappropriate in the situation. | AP Photo Susan Rice denies misusing intel to damage Trump

Former national security adviser Susan Rice denied President Donald Trump's claim that she tried to unmask Americans in an attempt to implicate Trump campaign officials, adding that she never did anything "untoward with respect to the intelligence" she received.

During an interview with CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS" airing Sunday morning, Rice said Trump's accusation is "absolutely false" and that members of Congress have not found anything inappropriate in the situation.


"I think now we've had subsequently members of Congress on the intelligence committees on both sides of the aisle take a look at the information that apparently was the basis for Chairman [Devin] Nunes' concern, and say publicly that they didn't see anything that was unusual or untoward," Rice said, referring to the California Republican, who has since stepped back from chairing the House Intelligence Committee's investigation of Russia's alleged interference in the 2016 election and ties to Donald Trump's associates.

"I did my job, which was to protect the American people, and I did it faithfully and to the best of my ability, and never did I do anything that was untoward with respect to the intelligence I received."

Asked by Zakaria about Trump blaming the Obama administration for the security clearance of Michael Flynn, Rice said that the Trump administration was expected to do additional vetting for senior White House or administration appointments.

Flynn previously headed the Defense Intelligence Agency from 2012 to 2014. He briefly served as Trump's national security adviser but was forced to step down amid growing scrutiny over his ties to foreign agents.

Rice said security level for a certain agency happens at "a very routine level, never at a political level."

"Every previous administration, had an expectation and an obligation to vet, to their satisfaction, those individuals that the president was appointing to high positions, which is a separate and much more elaborate process than a security clearance," Rice said. "It gets into the financial information. It gets into your relationships and contacts. It gets into your behavior.

"It's a much deeper vet than what is done solely for the purpose of a security clearance."