Report: DNC told FBI it had evidence offices were bugged

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) informed the FBI last month that it found evidence that its headquarters were bugged, Mother Jones reported on Friday.

{mosads}The liberal magazine cited unidentified DNC officials who said the party had hired a firm to conduct electronic sweeps of its offices. 

The first sweep, conducted in September, found nothing, but a subsequent sweep in October reportedly found a radio signal that may have belonged to a listening device monitoring the chairman’s office.

“We were told that this was something that could pick up calls from cellphones,” one of the DNC sources told Mother Jones. “The guys who did the sweep said it was a strong indication.” 

No device was found in the sweep.

“The DNC is not going to comment on stories about its security,” DNC spokesman Adam Hodge told the magazine. “In all security matters, we cooperate fully with the appropriate law enforcement agencies and take all necessary steps to protect the committee and the safety and security of our staff.”

Asked to confirm the report, another DNC spokesman referred The Hill to Hodge’s statement.

A trove of hacked DNC emails was released by WikiLeaks earlier this year, ultimately leading to the resignation of Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (Fla.) as chairwoman. Hillary Clinton’s presidential bid has also been rocked WikiLeaks publishing emails apparently stolen from campaign chairman John Podesta.

The U.S. intelligence community has said that it suspects Russia of perpetrating the hacks.