“I did a lot of covert stuff, surveillance.”

“Abel and Nathan’s covert take down and smear campaigns were revealed in black and white on Abel’s company-issued phone following her termination,” Jones said in her lawsuit.

"These claims exist solely in the realm of imagination. Nigeria has never engaged in any alliance, overt or covert, with France — or any other country — to destabilise Niger Republic," Idris said.

In his campaign platform, Trump said he would order the Pentagon to use “special forces, cyber warfare, and other covert and overt actions to inflict maximum damage on cartel leadership, infrastructure, and operations.”

In the House of Commons on Monday a number of senior Conservatives called for tougher measures to protect the UK against covert Chinese influence.