The White House denies having spied on President Hollande's telephone calls, but is silent on whether the reports regarding his predecessors are true or not. According to the documents released by Wikileaks the presidents were spied upon from 2006 to 2012. Hollande was elected in 2012 and probably took the advice given to President Obama: "ditch your Blackberry and use this encrypted portable".
But all the aides at the Elysee were also under surveillance and Hollande has called a Defence Committee meeting this morning (Wednesday) to discuss the matter.
Ironically, today the French parliament is discussing a bill to make it easier for the security services to access private people's phone and internet records (and the UK government has similar proposals in its programme).
Cynics might wonder what was gained by listening in to France's recent presidents: Chirac ordering a take away: Sarkozy ordering bling-bling from a teleshopping channel: Hollande ordering a minicab scooter to visit a girl friend?
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