WikiLeaks releases files that claim NSA spied on French presidents

French President Francois Hollande.
(Image credit: Carsten Koall/Getty Images)

Documents published late Tuesday by WikiLeaks purport to show that the U.S. National Security Agency eavesdropped on the last three presidents of France.

A spokesman for WikiLeaks told The Associated Press the group is confident the documents are real, adding that previous files have been genuine. Claudine Ripert-Landler, a senior spokeswoman for French President Francois Hollande, said Hollande would convene "the Defense Council to evaluate the nature of the information reported in the media and draw the necessary conclusions." An aide to Nicolas Sarkozy who was not authorized to be publicly identified said the former president considered eavesdropping unacceptable, especially from an ally.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.