Trump accused Obama of spying on him, but it was Netanyahu’s Israel that installed cellphone listening devices near the White House.
The U.S. government concluded within the past two years that Israel was most likely behind the placement of cellphone surveillance devices that were found near the White House and other sensitive locations around Washington, according to three former senior U.S. officials with knowledge of the matter.
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The miniature surveillance devices, colloquially known as “StingRays,†mimic regular cell towers to fool cellphones into giving them their locations and identity information. Formally called international mobile subscriber identity-catchers or IMSI-catchers, they also can capture the contents of calls and data use.
The devices were likely intended to spy on President Donald Trump, one of the former officials said, as well as his top aides and closest associates — though it’s not clear whether the Israeli efforts were successful.
Trump refuses to follow security protocols and use a secure cell phone. Trump’s unsecured cell phone has led to reports that the Chinese and other foreign governments have been listening to his phone calls from day one of his presidency.
Listening devices spying on the president is a serious offense, so what did Trump do to Israel?
Being the tough guy that he is, Trump weakly rolled over let Netanyahu rub his belly. In other words, Donald Trump did nothing.
Trump has spent years falsely claiming that Barack Obama spied on him when in reality the people who are spying on him are the ones that Trump considers his “friends.” While the president is working to undermine and destroy the US intelligence community, foreign governments are spying on him at will.
US national security is at risk during every single moment of the Trump presidency.
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Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
