Spot Checks

Last week, after Spicer became aware that information had leaked out of a planning meeting with about a dozen of his communications staffers, he reconvened the group in his office to express his frustration over the number of private conversations and meetings that were showing up in unflattering news stories, according to sources in the room.

Upon entering Spicer’s second floor office, staffers were told to dump their phones on a table for a “phone check," to prove they had nothing to hide.

  Politico

And presumably nobody refused, as you might if you actually cared about freedom or privacy.

Spicer, who consulted with White House counsel Don McGahn before calling the meeting, was accompanied by White House lawyers in the room, according to multiple sources. There, he explicitly warned staffers that using texting apps like Confide -- an encrypted and screenshot-protected messaging app that automatically deletes texts after they are sent -- and Signal, another encrypted messaging system, was a violation of the Federal Records Act, according to multiple sources in the room.

Since when does the Federal Records Act apply to staffers' personal phones?

Spicer also warned the group of more problems if news of the phone checks and the meeting about leaks was leaked to the media.

Ooops. Somebody didn't appreciate the intrusion.

Maybe the White House is going to have to sequester staff in a basement for the duration.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.