Spy terminology

Your guide for how to talk like a spy

Unmasking. SCIFs. FISA warrants issued by a secret FISA court. These are some technical spy terms that have suddenly become integral to understanding the news — especially the investigations of President Trump's associates' alleged ties with Russia.

Here's your guide for how to talk like a spy and, hopefully, understand the news a little better.

...5) SCIF: A spy-proof room. It stands for a “sensitive compartmented information facility,” and it's a room that allows American officials to share and discuss classified information without worrying about that info being hacked or their conversations secretly recorded. There are SCIFs in Congress, at the White House, at the FBI and the CIA, and at other national security facilities and embassies all over the world.

Why it's in the news: Lawmakers are confused as to why Trump invited all 100 senators to the White House on Wednesday for a classified briefing about North Korea. The White House will temporarily turn an auditorium in its building next door into a SCIF despite the fact that there is a secret room big enough for all of them on Capitol Hill.