Widespread Unmasking

Evey Hammond: Who are you?
V: Who? Who is but the form following the function of what and what I am is a man in a mask.
Evey Hammond: Well I can see that.
V: Of course you can. I'm not questioning your powers of observation. I'm merely remarking upon the paradox of asking a masked man who he is.
Evey Hammond: Oh. Right.
--V for Vendetta

Deranged media are using the escapades of Donald Trump as an excuse to ignore stories that truly hold blockbuster potential. One involves growing evidence that the NSA under the Obama administration illegally unmasked the identities of US citizens in their surveillance of digital communications. A newly released FISA court order finds that what amounts to illegal searches were 'widespread' and created a 'very serious Fourth Amendment issue.'

The FISA court findings were the outcome of a hearing dated October 26, 2016--just days before the presidential election. Why the findings were 'sealed' until now is not explained in the article and unclear to me.

The discoveries and their timing cast additional suspicion on previous administration's possible use of surveillance apparatus to gain information about political adversaries.

Grapevine journalists, of course, prefer to discount factual court documents in favor of rumor and innuendo.