NSA leaks continue to make things extremely awkward between the United States and its “allies,” with the latest uncomfortable phone call to the White House coming from German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Der Spiegel reported today that the U.S. spy agency was targeting her private phone, which the American government all but confirmed in its cagey almost-kind-of denial.
“The President assured the Chancellor that the United States is not monitoring and will not monitor the communications of Chancellor Merkel,” a National Security Council spokesperson said, echoing the exact words of White House spokesman Jay Carney, leaving the between-the-lines admission all but blinking in neon lights.
Merkel “unequivocally disapproves of such practices and sees them as completely unacceptable,” her spokesperson scolded in a middle-of-the-night statement. “Between close friends and partners … there should be no such monitoring of the communication of a head of government. That would be a grave breach of trust,” he added.
Nosy significant others everywhere, vouching for Obama, are like, Well, if you’ve got nothing to hide …
