The White House has personnel who conduct sweeps to make sure that no staff members have unauthorized phones, in efforts to crack down on leaking to reporters, CNN reported.
Four White House officials described to CNN how a ban on personal phones in January is carried out.
Officials leave their phones in their cars or place them in lockers at West Wing entrances. The staff member keeps the key until the end of the day when they can pick up their device.
Suit-wearing men carrying handheld devices walk the West Wing halls, looking for devices that are not government-issued. If an unauthorized phone is detected, one of the men will ask if someone forgot to store away their phone, the sources said.
If no one says they have a phone, the men search using the handheld devices, which can determine what kind of device is in the room.
Chief of staff John Kelly, in the announcement of the ban, said that anyone who violated it would be subject to discipline, including being "indefinitely prohibited from entering the White House complex," CNN reported.
Staffers later said they do not believe anyone would be fired over the policy, with multiple sources pointing out that the phone ban did not prevent aide Kelly Sadler's comment about John McCain from leaking.
President Donald Trump on Monday took aim at the leakers, calling them "traitors and cowards."
"We will find out who they are," the president said in the tweet.
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