I just assumed it was a defensive weapon of some sort, likely an anti-surveillance device meant to disrupt snooping.

Then, "Oh shit, it's making people sick." Since the NSA must never be found at fault for anything, a quick and dirty "blame the foreigners" narrative was cooked up. It did very well, Trump did a very good job of making tolerant, understanding people hate Russia and Russians the way that nobody has since June 1941.