Documents recently disclosed by the White House Government Transparency Task Force show that the FBI, under the Biden administration, monitored the travel of former First Lady Melania Trump and her son Barron Trump. This surveillance was part of the probe led by former Department of Justice special counsel Jack Smith into whether Donald Trump illegally retained classified documents after leaving office.
The FBI's operation, code-named 'Plasmic Echo,' also involved wiretapping the phone of Susie Wiles, who was identified as Donald Trump's future chief of staff and head of his political operation in Palm Beach. The surveillance occurred in the aftermath of the FBI's Mar-a-Lago raid on August 8, 2022. According to one redacted FBI agent's email from May 2022, the agency sought to 'Finalize FBI understanding of FPOTUS/FLOTUS/minor son’s travel (type of aircraft and specific timeline).'
White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis criticized the operation, stating, '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.'
The classified documents case was later dismissed after a judge ruled that Smith's appointment as special counsel by Attorney General Merrick Garland was unlawful. Files also indicate that former FBI Director Christopher Wray reportedly advised Garland to approve the wiretaps. In a May 2022 memo, Wray wrote to Garland, recommending approval and noting that the probe could be 'disruptive to the democratic process if publicly disclosed prior to an election.' The released documents included numerous FBI-recorded call logs obtained from Wiles' phone. Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn has previously sued Smith for allegedly accessing her phone records around the time of the 2020 election.