Turn in your smartphones! How Mueller kept a lid on Trump-Russia probe
MARCH 22, 2019 / 7:02 AM / UPDATED 43 MINUTES AGO
Karen Freifeld, Nathan Layne
8 MIN READ
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - When members of Special Counsel Robert Muellers team investigating Russias role in the 2016 U.S. election arrived for work each day, they placed their mobile phones in a locker outside of their office suite before entering.
Operating in secrecy in a nondescript glass-and-concrete office, the team of prosecutors and investigators since May 2017 has unearthed secrets that have led to bombshell charges against several of President Donald Trumps aides, including his former national security adviser, campaign chairman and personal lawyer, who have pleaded guilty or been convicted by a jury.
To protect those secrets from prying ears, the whole of the office suite in southwest Washington was designated a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF), U.S. spy speak for an area that has restrictions to ensure secret information stays secure.
One common restriction in SCIFs is to keep out smartphones and other electronic devices, which can be turned into covert listening devices or spy cameras. Visitors were also required to turn these over before entering.
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