The FBI is reportedly 'confident' Israeli agents planted surveillance devices near the White House

The United States government believes Israeli agents planted surveillance devices near the White House and elsewhere in Washington, D.C., Politico reported Thursday.

Miniature surveillance devices that "mimic regular cell towers to fool cell phones into giving them their locations and identity information" within the last two years were discovered planted near the White House and other "sensitive locations" in Washington, "likely intended to spy on" Trump and his associates, according to the report, which cites three former senior U.S. officials.

The FBI and other agencies reportedly felt "confident" that Israeli agents were responsible, although the report says it's "not clear whether the Israeli efforts were successful."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

An Israeli Embassy spokesperson denied the allegations, telling Politico they're "absolute nonsense" because "Israel doesn't conduct espionage operations in the United States, period," an assertion Politico writes intelligence experts "scoff at." Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office also called the report "a blatant lie," Axios reports.

Although the U.S. reportedly came to this determination that Israel was likely responsible for planting the devices, no action has reportedly been taken, with one former senior intelligence officials telling Politico, "I'm not aware of any accountability at all."