The White House says it is not targeting French President Francois Hollande's communications and will not do so, after transparency website WikiLeaks released documents that it says shows the U.S. National Security Agency spied on him and his two predecessors.
There was no immediate confirmation of the accuracy of the documents, which were released by WikiLeaks in collaboration with French daily newspaper Liberation and investigative website Mediapart.
NSA spokesman Ned Price said the Obama administration does not conduct any foreign intelligence surveillance unless there is a "specific and validated national security purpose," a standard he said applied to both world leaders and "ordinary citizens."
The spokesman did not address whether French presidential communications had been wiretapped in the past.
A French presidential aide says Mr. Hollande is expected to meet Wednesday with his defense council to evaluate the information published by Wikileaks.