FBI Officials Allege Attorney-Approved Surveillance of Trump Campaign Official
FBI Director Kash Patel has made explosive allegations regarding surveillance activities during the Biden administration, claiming that Susie Wiles' own attorney gave federal investigators permission to spy on her during a 2023 phone call without her knowledge. According to officials speaking to Reuters, the FBI subpoenaed phone records for both Patel and Wiles while they were private citizens working on Donald Trump's reelection campaign.
Special Counsel Investigations Trigger Surveillance Actions
The surveillance reportedly occurred during Special Counsel Jack Smith's dual investigations into 2020 election interference and whether former President Donald Trump improperly took classified documents to his Mar-a-Lago residence. Patel asserts that investigators employed what he describes as 'flimsy pretexts' to obtain access to their communications records during this period.
One particularly concerning detail officials have revealed involves the Bureau recording a phone conversation between Wiles, who now serves as White House Chief of Staff, and her attorney. The lawyer allegedly consented to FBI monitoring and recording of the call, but officials maintain that Wiles remained completely unaware of the silent listener on their conversation.
White House Declines Comment on Surveillance Allegations
The White House has not responded to requests for comment regarding whether such recording actually took place or if Wiles was aware of the FBI monitoring. It remains unclear what specific topics were discussed during that monitored call, and the White House has declined to confirm the identity of the attorney involved in the alleged incident.
These newly unveiled actions connected to Smith's investigations have resulted in significant personnel changes within the FBI. At least ten employees who worked on the classified documents case have been fired this week following the discovery of these surveillance activities.
Patel Condemns 'Outrageous' Government Overreach
Patel has characterized the FBI's seizure of his phone records and efforts to conceal those actions as the latest example of government overreach under Biden's presidency. He explained to Reuters that it took approximately one year for these subpoenas to be uncovered because the records were filed in a manner that made them exceptionally difficult for new FBI leadership to locate after taking control of the Bureau last year.
'It is outrageous and deeply alarming that the previous FBI leadership secretly subpoenaed my own phone records – along with those of now White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles – using flimsy pretexts and burying the entire process in prohibited case files designed to evade all oversight,' Patel stated emphatically to the news agency.
Technical Obstacles and Case Developments
The records collection reportedly included time periods when Wiles served as Trump's co-campaign manager alongside Chris LaCivita, though Patel did not provide Reuters with exact dates for when the phone record collection began and concluded. Investigators discovered the files categorized as 'Prohibited' within FBI computer systems, creating significant technical obstacles to their discovery through normal channels.
Smith had charged Trump with felonies in 2023 related to his investigation into the retention and movement of classified documents from the White House to Mar-a-Lago. However, a federal judge subsequently dismissed the case, and Smith dropped his appeal when Trump won reelection for a second term in 2024, bringing this particular legal chapter to a close while leaving surveillance questions unanswered.
