Policy

Clapper Denies Reports of French Phone-Tapping

Why should we believe him, though?

|

The director of national intelligence dismissed accusations Tuesday night that the National Security Agency listened in on 70 million French phone calls in a 30-day period.

James Clapper denied the eavesdropping, which was initially reported in the French newspaper Le Monde, calling the allegations "misleading" and "false," the New York Times reports. The revelations came from documents leaked by Edward Snowden, the former NSA contractor now charged with espionage and theft for leaking confidential documents about the scope of NSA surveillance.

France is just the latest American ally to express outrage over revelations that the NSA used electronic surveillance within their borders. Mexico, Germany and Brazil are already  upset about allegations of spying within their borders.