Ah, some of the nearest and dearest names of the recently departed administration have the strangest habit of popping back into the news in the most peculiar ways. Like, in an email.

Take Susan “Served With Honor and Distinction” Rice, former National Security Adviser to President Obama and proud public purveyor of memorable whoppers. She’s back in the headlines again this afternoon because a crusty old Republican senator and his sidekick read the materials presented to their committee. When they did, they noticed something “unusual”:

Ex-national security adviser Susan Rice sent an “unusual email” to herself the day President Trump was sworn into office documenting former President Barack Obama’s guidance at a high-level meeting about how law enforcement should investigate Russian interference in the 2016 presidential race, two Republican senators said Monday.

According to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and Sen. Lindsey Graham, the partially unclassified email was sent by Rice on Jan. 20, 2017 — and appears to document a Jan. 5 meeting that included Obama, then-FBI Director James Comey, then-Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates, then-Vice President Joe Biden and Rice.

In the email, Obama’s national security adviser wrote: “President Obama began the conversation by stressing his continued commitment to ensuring that every aspect of this issue is handled by the Intelligence and law enforcement communities ‘by the book.’ The president stressed that he is not asking about, initiating or instructing anything from a law enforcement perspective. He reiterated that our law enforcement team needs to proceed as it normally would by the book.”

Because the Obama administration was always ALL ABOUT “by the book,” right? RIGHT.

She also makes a point of noting the president’s deep and abiding concern…

Rice wrote that Obama said “he wants to be sure that, as we engage with the incoming team, we are mindful to ascertain if there is any reason that we cannot share information fully as it relates to Russia.”

Now. Hold on a second there, girlfriend. “CanNOT share fully”? With the INCOMING president of the United States? Who would (or SHOULD) have it on his desk in 2 weeks anyway? It’s your duty as the outgoing administration to make sure he’s up to snuff to take over. Unless…schmaybe there’s something/s pertaining to Russia you don’t want shared?

Senators Grassley and Graham call her out in their letter of 8 February:

“It strikes us as odd…”

Oh, what beautiful phrasing the senators use! (The entire letter, including questions the senators would like Ms. Rice to answer, can be found here.) She sent an email TO HERSELF at 12:15 p.m. the day of President Trump’s inauguration, describing the participants and conversation in a meeting two weeks prior. Who does that? How ODD. And making sure to note Obama said “by the book” twice?

The FBI investigation they were discussing wasn't a law enforcement operation, which makes that alleged comment (and its absence re: the actual counter-intel investigation) pretty strange in context. https://t.co/0LClFkn9ni

— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) February 12, 2018

How ODD.

If you’ll remember, Rice herself denies any wrongdoing as far as “unmasking” Trump folks went. (More “by the book.”)

Not everyone is falling for this banana in the tailpipe. Ben Shapiro is more than a little disturbed by the hamhanded CYA aspects of Rice’s lonely penpal exercise:

…There are several portions of this email that should be disturbing.

First, why was Rice sending a memo to herself, except to create a paper trail designed to paste a friendly gloss on a rather suspicious meeting? Second, how exactly would Obama have planned to prevent the intelligence community from handing over information to the incoming commander-in-chief? Trump has full constitutional power over the executive branch, including the intelligence community. Yet Obama presumably said that he might want to prevent the full sharing of information regarding Russia. Third, Obama said he didn’t want to interfere with anything from a law enforcement perspective. But how about from an intelligence-gathering perspective?

Furthermore, the double emphasis on Obama stating that he wanted to proceed “by the book” smacks of a bit too much protest. Did Obama really want to proceed by the book? Or did he say that for effect?

My question would have to be “did he say it at ALL“? Is this a last minute fabulist email, meant to hide amongst the flotsam and then its discovery saves everyone? “Look right here, officer! We were all doing it by the book. Read for yourself.” Not withstanding the 2 weeks post purported event occurrence and secondhand conversation. (Wink wink, nudge nudge, say no more, say no more.)

One wonders what Susan Rice and her colleagues were doing between Jan. 5 and Jan. 20 at noon that made her think she needed to blast out a quick CYA e-mail moments before Trump became president.

— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) February 12, 2018

🎶Oh, I wonder, wonder who, who-oo-ooh, who…🎶

Hope we find out.