On Tuesday, wikileaks.org published classified intelligence reports which detail the United States' National Security Agency surveillance of high ranking members within the French government over the last three administrations. A time frame which covers the years 2006 to 2012.
The report, dubbed 'Espionnage Elysee', shows that the US agency has been snooping around the French heads of state for years, doing things like listening to phone calls of the French president.
France's current leader Francois Hollande quickly summoned an emergency meeting with the country's defense council to discuss the news. He issued this statement to the press:
"France will not tolerate actions that threaten its security and the protection of its interests."
US president Barack Obama was quick to respond, saying that United States is no longer spying on their close ally. An official statement from the White House read:
"We are not targeting and will not target" Mr Hollande's communications.
The documents touch on various subjects such as the global recession that swept the world in 2008, Greece's debt crisis, and the current state and uncertain future of the European Union.
Wired Magazine says the revelation is a huge scoop for Wikileaks and shows that the site is once again returning to relevance:
"it also represents a milestone for WikiLeaks: the first top-secret document it's published in years. Taken along with an accelerating series of other recent WikiLeaks releases and the re-launch of its submission system for anonymous leaks, it seems to show that WikiLeaks may be returning to form, as a combative champion of whistleblowers and the bane of every government agency that works in secret."
This scoop comes hot on the heels of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange's third anniversary under the care of the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. Where he is seeking asylum to avoid extradition for his whistle blowing activities.
