FBI subpoena of phone records leaves Trump chief of staff 'in shock': report
White House chief of staff Susie Wiles was reportedly in shock after hearing that the FBI under former President Joe Biden subpoenaed her and current FBI Director Kash Patel's phone records in 2022 and 2023.
Wiles — who ran President Donald Trump's 2024 campaign — reportedly told associates, "I am in shock," Axios reported on Thursday.
Reuters first disclosed the subpoenas, which were issued during the Biden administration, while special counsel Jack Smith was investigating Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election and his handling of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago.
The subpoenaed toll records included phone numbers and the dates and times of calls, but not the content of the conversations, Fox News has learned.
Smith eventually charged Trump in 2023 with multiple felony offenses related to alleged efforts to challenge the results of the 2020 election and his handling of documents. The election interference case was later dismissed by a federal judge after Smith moved to drop it following Trump's re-election. Smith also dropped the Justice Department’s appeal of a separate ruling that dismissed the classified documents case. Trump has denied any wrongdoing in both matters.
In 2023, the FBI recorded a phone call between Wiles and her attorney, two FBI officials told Fox News. Additionally, the officials said Wiles' attorney was aware that the call was being recorded and consented, but the now-White House chief of staff did not.
"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 told Fox News on Wednesday.
GOP LAWMAKER ACCUSES JACK SMITH OF ‘SPYING’ ON CONGRESS AT TENSE HOUSE HEARING OVER TRUMP PROBE
Patel has said he recently ended the FBI’s ability to categorize files as "Prohibited."
At least 10 FBI employees were also fired Wednesday, Fox News was told. Names were not given due to privacy reasons.
Eric Daugherty, assistant chief content officer for RightLine, an offshoot of Florida’s Voice, applauded the firings, telling Patel to "keep purging." Additionally, conservative influencer Nick Sortor wrote on X, "The amount of ROT in the FBI is INSANE."
The FBI Agents Association (FBIAA) later issued a scathing statement criticizing the firings.
"The FBIAA condemns today’s unlawful termination of FBI Special Agents, which — like other firings by Director Patel — violates the due process rights of those who risk their lives to protect our country," the organization said in a statement. "These actions weaken the Bureau by stripping away critical expertise and destabilizing the workforce, undermining trust in leadership and jeopardizing the Bureau’s ability to meet its recruitment goals — ultimately putting the nation at greater risk."