[UnoriginalGuy]

You misread it.

They have EM bugs placed close to target sites. But these bugs have to be powered/recharged, so the NSA use focused radar to power the bug itself. Information is then sent back down the radar signal by modulating it.

EM spying is very real[0] and documented. "The Thing"[1] from 1945 actually uses some of the principles they're discussing here, they're just combining it with Tempest. Nothing they're describing is science fiction, it is very possible.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempest_(codename) [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thing_(listening_device)

[fapjacks]

Yes! The Thing was actually the first instance of this kind of device, well ahead of its time. There was an article some time ago on HN about the Dutch company which had an opportunity to examine it and reverse engineer it. Something like "Project Easy Chair" I think.