WASHINGTON President Donald Trumps White House is turning its fire on a favorite Republican villain as it tries to deflect attention from his campaigns contacts with the foreign power that worked to get him elected.

Susan Rice , the Obama administrations national security adviser, became a GOP scapegoat for her initial explanation for the 2012 terrorist attack on the U.S. diplomatic outpost in Benghazi, Libya. Now, she has again become the go-to culprit for her possible role in unmasking the names of Trump associates in intelligence reports during the final weeks of President Barack Obama s tenure.

The more we find out about this, the more we learn that there was clearly something there, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Tuesday. There is a civil liberties component to this that should be very troubling.

Rice, in an interview with MSNBC , denied leaking classified information, but said it was part of her job to find out the names of Americans who were speaking with agents of foreign governments that may have interfered in the November election. The names of Americans appearing in those reports are redacted and referenced with codes. Top national security officials are permitted to ask intelligence agencies to provide the names, should they deem it important.

Imagine if we saw something of grave significance that involved Russia, or China, or anybody else, interfering in our political process, Rice said. For us not to try to understand it would be dereliction of duty.