On the day of President Donald Trump’s inauguration, outgoing National Security Advisor Susan Rice wrote an email to herself noting a White House meeting that had occurred 15 days earlier. She wrote of Barack Obama’s instructing those present to ensure that intelligence and law-enforcement agencies proceed normally through the transition “by the book,” curiously repeating that three times. She also mentioned that Obama asked if there was any reason not to share Russia-related information with the incoming administration. In February 2018, Republican Senators Chuck Grassley (IA) and Lindsey Graham (SC), as part of their oversight of the FBI and DOJ, discovered Rice’s email, which had been partially classified as “top secret.” On Tuesday, Rice’s email was declassified.

A previously redacted paragraph showed former FBI Director James Comey’s response to a question from Obama:

Director Comey affirmed that he is proceeding “by the book” as it relates to law enforcement. From a national security perspective, Comey said he does have some concerns that incoming NSA Flynn is speaking frequently with Russian Ambassador Kislyak. Comey said that could be an issue as it relates to sharing sensitive information. President Obama asked if Comey was saying that the NSC should not pass sensitive information related to Russia to Flynn. Comey replied “potentially.” He added that he has no indication thus far that Flynn has passed classified information to Kislyak, but he noted that “the level of communication is unusual.”

This declassified portion of the email confirms that Trump’s then-National Security Advisor Michael Flynn was being monitored by the FBI. It confirms that Obama was aware of it, which further explains why he was so keen to raise concerns over sharing Russia-related information with Trump’s incoming team. Furthermore, it confirms that Rice lied when asked during an April 2017 PBS news interview whether the Obama administration had caught up any members of Trump’s team in foreign surveillance. “I know nothing about this,” Rice insisted. “I was surprised to see reports from Chairman Nunes on that count today.”

Rice is no stranger to lying, of course. It’s reminiscent of her behavior after the Benghazi terrorist attack, which killed four Americans, including the U.S. ambassador to Libya. She knew the truth, yet she repeatedly and blatantly lied by claiming the coordinated attack was a spontaneous protest of a YouTube video.

This latest revelation adds fuel to the charge that the FBI had no legitimate reason for spying on Flynn. Comey admitted as much and yet sought to defend the targeting of Flynn based upon his level of unusual communication. Talk about grasping at straws. And then, based on this rationale, Comey advised “potentially” withholding from Team Trump any Russia-related information — i.e., the existence of the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane investigation.

Responding to the revelation, Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI), chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, stated, “We didn’t witness what America has become so famous for — a peaceful, cooperative, well-wishing, transition of power. Instead we saw corruption of … a transition really designed to sabotage and really upend the new administration. It’s shameful, is what it is. … This needs to be dug into further.” Let the digging commence.

(Edited.)