FBI Monitored Susie Wiles' Communications in Trump Documents Probe

Newly released FBI documents detail the bureau's monitoring of Susie Wiles, President Trump's now-chief of staff, during the investigation into Trump's handling of classified documents. The records, released Monday, show that investigators tracked Wiles' phone activity from at least February through May 2023, cataloging who called her, whom she called, and the duration and timing of those communications.

The investigation, code-named "Plasmic Echo," led to the FBI's 2022 search of Mar-a-Lago and also encompassed concerns about potential obstruction of the investigation. The documents indicate the FBI tracked Wiles' contacts with at least 21 attorneys, along with campaign personnel, Trump Organization contacts, Secret Service officials, and journalists.

Some of the contacts swept into the FBI's monitoring of Wiles were identified by name, including journalists associated with CNN, The Washington Post, and POLITICO. Other contacts were labeled generically as "Lawyer," "Campaign," and "USSS" (U.S. Secret Service).

The records also show Wiles' communications with two separate Secret Service officials, identified as "USSS 1" and "USSS 2." These entries extend the bureau's mapping of her phone activity into Trump's protective detail.

In one instance detailed in the documents, a March 24 entry shows investigators logged a 41-second call from an individual labeled "Lawyer 7" to Wiles. Investigators also examined earlier calls between the two, suggesting an effort to trace patterns in her network. The documents do not specify the reason for this scrutiny or what investigators hoped to learn from these contacts.

Another entry from March 9 logs a series of calls Wiles made to at least six contacts identified as campaign personnel, recording the times and durations but not the content of the conversations.

The probe was initiated by the FBI in March 2022 and later placed under the purview of Special Counsel Jack Smith, who was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland in November 2022. Wiles was managing Trump's political operation and serving as a top campaign advisor at the time, eventually becoming his White House chief of staff.

White House spokesperson Lauren Bis stated, "Jack Smith’s surveillance operation was a disgraceful abuse of government power. Spying on political opponents is weaponization of law enforcement, plain and simple. Those responsible must be held accountable."

Victoria Coates, a foreign policy expert at the Heritage Foundation, described the tracking of Wiles as "unprecedented, dangerous, and should be illegal." She drew a parallel to the FBI's actions during the 2016 presidential campaign, suggesting a pattern of using investigative authorities for political purposes.

Coates also raised concerns about investigative overreach, contrasting the monitoring of Wiles with the Justice Department's handling of classified documents found in President Joe Biden's possession. "No, particularly by the Justice Department’s own very low standards in dealing with President Biden’s classified-document violations from his time as vice president, which were far more egregious than anything retained at Mar-a-Lago," Coates said.

The declassified documents also revealed that agents gathered details about the travel plans of Melania Trump and their son, Barron, as part of the operational planning for the potential search of Mar-a-Lago. Pre-raid checklists included directives to "finalize FBI understanding of FPOTUS/FLOTUS/minor son's travel," specifying aircraft type and travel timeline to determine the optimal time for executing the warrant.

The FBI executed the search warrant at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, on August 8, 2022. Agents entered the property shortly before 9 a.m. and began their search around 10:30 a.m.