U.S. quietly ends probe of Obama-era 'unmasking' of Trump allies

The U.S. Justice Department has ended its probe into whether Obama administration officials improperly “unmasked” associates of now-President Donald Trump mentioned in intelligence reports, two congressional sources said on Wednesday.

It found no wrongdoing, one of the sources said.

Unmasking refers to the naming of U.S. citizens whose identities were blacked out in reports from the National Security Agency that captured their communications with a foreign national.

Trump and his allies have sought to portray the use of the process during the administration of his Democratic predecessor, President Barack Obama, as a misuse of government authority.