The National Security Council has informed conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch that materials regarding former National Security Adviser Susan Rice's reported requests to identify "masked" U.S. persons in intelligence reports linked to President Donald Trump's transition and campaign have been sent to Barack Obama's presidential library outside of Chicago.
Rice, who served as a senior official during the Obama administration, had requested on several occasions the identities of U.S. persons associated with Trump whose identities were concealed, according to press reports from earlier this year.
Following the revelations, Judicial Watch sent a Freedom of Information Act request on April 4 for records concerning "any and all requests for information, analyses, summaries, assessments, transcripts, or similar records submitted to any intelligence community member agency or any official, employee, or representative thereof by ... Rice" related to several issues.
Judicial Watch reported Monday that NSC Access Management Director John Powers responded to the FOIA request in a May 23 letter.
"Documents from the Obama administration have been transferred to the Barack Obama Presidential Library. You may send your request to the Obama Library," Powers wrote. "However, you should be aware that under the Presidential Records Act, presidential records remain closed to the public for five years after an administration has left office."
Judicial Watch's FOIA request sought to obtain documents related to Rice's communications with intelligence officials on a range of issues, including any efforts by the Russian government to influence the 2016 presidential election and the hacking of Democratic National Committee and Clinton campaign computer systems.
"Judicial Watch has filed six FOIA lawsuits related to the surveillance, unmasking, and illegal leaking targeting President Trump and his associates," the watchdog group said.
Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton said he is considering other legal options to obtain the records.
"Prosecutors, Congress, and the public will want to know when the National Security Council shipped off the records about potential intelligence abuses by Susan Rice and others in the Obama White House to the memory hole of the Obama Presidential Library," Fitton said.
"We are considering our legal options but we hope that the Special Counsel and Congress also consider their options and get these records," he added.