FBI Director Kash Patel said that the bureau under former President Joe Biden subpoenaed the phone records of Susie Wiles, now the White House chief of staff, while both were private citizens, according to a Thursday report by Axios.
Wiles told associates, "I am in shock."
Patel described the actions as "outrageous and deeply alarming," alleging that previous FBI leadership obtained their phone "toll records," which show the timing and recipients of calls, under what he called "flimsy pretexts," and placed the matter in restricted case files to limit oversight.
The subpoenas reportedly sought call records from 2022 and 2023, during the federal investigation into whether then-former President Donald Trump improperly retained classified documents at Mar-a-Lago.
Reuters first reported the subpoenas. According to that report, in 2023 the FBI also recorded a phone call between Wiles and her attorney.
While the attorney was aware of and consented to the recording, Wiles herself was not informed, according to two FBI officials cited by Reuters.
Trump officials familiar with the matter told Axios the disclosures could be "the tip of the iceberg," suggesting that additional figures in Trump's orbit may have been scrutinized during the investigation.
The developments add to longstanding Republican accusations that federal law enforcement agencies were weaponized under the Biden administration to target political opponents.
GOP lawmakers have pointed to investigations into Trump, surveillance controversies tied to the 2016 Russia probe, and Justice Department actions involving anti-abortion activists and parents at school board meetings as evidence of politicization within federal agencies.
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