Eliza Collins

USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — Rep. Trey Gowdy used Monday's House Intelligence Committee hearing to cite Obama administration officials, including the former president, as potential sources for leaks.

The South Carolina Republican was questioning FBI Director James Comey during the House Intelligence Committee’s hearing as part of its investigation into Russian interference with the U.S. election.

Like many of his Republican colleagues, Gowdy used his time to focus on recent leaks of classified information to journalists. But he went a step further by raising specific names of people from the former administration to show they had access to leaked classified material, implying they might have been sources of the leaks.

“I’ll just ask you, did you brief President Obama on any calls involving Michael Flynn?” Gowdy asked. He was referring specifically to leaked information regarding a phone call between Flynn, President Trump’s former national security adviser, and the ambassador to Russia during the transition. The reports showed that Flynn had discussed sanctions and the discovery ultimately led to his resignation.

Gowdy argued that “unmasking” Flynn’s name was a felony because it was part of a confidential intelligence gathering and had previously been “masked” to protect his identity.

“I’m not going to get either that particular case, that matter, or any conversations I had involving the president. So I can’t answer that question,” Comey responded.

But Obama wasn’t the only one. Gowdy also rattled down a list of people who had held high-ranking positions in the Obama administrationor were heads of government agencies and asked whether each would have had access to the “unmasked” name. He included former director of national intelligence James Clapper, former CIA director John Brennan, former national security adviser Susan Rice, former White House adviser Ben Rhodes, former attorney general Loretta Lynch and former deputy attorney general Sally Yates.

Comey confirmed that in general most of them would have some level of access, though he said he did not know about Rhodes, a former National Security Council aide.

“In the universe of possible motives of felonious dissemination of classified material, we could rule out wanting to help the intelligence communities and the law enforcement communities. Those are two motives that are gone now, that leaves more nefarious motives," Gowdy said.

Gowdy was seeking a specific number of people at high levels of the government who had the ability to unmask — National Security Agency Director Mike Rogers had said earlier in the hearing 20 people in the NSA had the ability — but Comey said he didn't know the exact number at the FBI, though he conceded it was probably more than at the NSA.

"I think, Director Comey, given the fact that you and I agree this is critical, vital, indispensable — a similar program is coming up for reauthorization this fall with a pretty strong headwind right now — it would be nice to know the universe of people who have the power to unmask a U.S. citizen's name, because that might provide something of a roadmap to investigate who might have actually disseminated a masked U.S. citizen's name," Gowdy responded.

“Is the investigation into the leak of classified information, has it begun yet?” Gowdy continued.

“I can’t say because I don’t want to confirm whether that was classified information,” Comey responded.

Gowdy urged Comey to investigate the leaks to make sure that classified information wasn't released in the future.

"I'll bet you my fellow citizens are rethinking their side of the equation. Because that U.S. citizen could be them next time. It could be you. It could be me. It could be anyone until we start seriously investigating and prosecuting what Congress thought was serious enough to attach a 10-year felony to," Gowdy said.

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President Trump also seemed to attach himself to Gowdy's theory later Monday when he tweeted out a clip of Comey refusing to give details on his conversation with the president.

"FBI Director Comey refuses to deny he briefed President Obama on calls made by Michael Flynn to Russia," Trump wrote.

Later Trump tweeted out a longer video clip: "FBI Director Comey admits Obama’s White House had ability to “unmask” American citizens."

Reps. Tom Rooney, R-Fla., and Mike Turner, R-Ohio, both pushed similar points during their questioning.

Gowdy also spent a significant amount of time trying to prove there was no exception for reporters who published classified material and seemed to imply that the press should be prosecuted for publishing classified information. Comey responded that it was more complicated.

“Is there an exception in the law for reporters who want to break a story?” Gowdy asked.

“That’s a harder question as to whether a reporter incurs criminal liability by publishing classified information and one probably beyond my ken,” Comey continued, adding he wasn’t aware of any reporter who had been prosecuted in his lifetime.