FBI Monitored Trump Family and Susie Wiles During Investigation

WASHINGTON — The FBI tracked the movements of Melania and Barron Trump and intercepted future White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles’ cellphone communications as part of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into whether former President Trump unlawfully kept national security documents at Mar-a-Lago after his first term.

The bureau kept tabs on the family’s travels while strategizing the timing for a search of Trump’s Palm Beach residence. Additionally, Wiles’ phone was monitored in the months following the August 2022 raid to gauge her interactions with Trump’s legal team, based on documents revealed by the White House.

This surveillance—conducted during President Joe Biden’s tenure—was part of a covert probe dubbed “Plasmic Echo.”

Then-Attorney General Merrick Garland approved the wiretapping based on advice from then-FBI Director Christopher Wray, who cautioned in a May 2022 memo that the sensitive nature of the investigation could involve high-ranking officials from Trump’s administration. Wray further warned it could be “disruptive to the democratic process” if details emerged before an election.

Yet, he encouraged Garland to proceed with a handwritten note at the bottom of the memo: “Merrick, I recommend you approve. CW.”

During this period, Wiles was in charge of Trump’s political strategy as he geared up for the 2024 election.

The FBI’s actions were highlighted in a series of documents made public by the White House Government Transparency Task Force. An email exchange among FBI agents in late May 2022 describes steps to intensify the document investigation, which included finalizing the search warrant for Mar-a-Lago and coordinating with the U.S. Attorney’s office in the Southern District of Florida.

A note from their agenda stated, “Finalize FBI understanding of FPOTUS/FLOTUS/minor son’s travel (type of aircraft and specific timeline).” They also included the tasks to “swear out the warrant” and “finalize all coordination between FBI/DOJ/USSS” in West Palm Beach.

One document indicated that any search warrants would be executed after Trump had left Mar-a-Lago.

In the weeks leading up to the raid, a special agent expressed concerns over the legal authority needed to search the former president’s office or bedroom, suggesting further discussions with Trump’s lawyers.

Eventually, the FBI carried out the raid on August 8, 2022, which included searches of Trump’s office as well as the bedrooms of the former first couple.

The recently released documents also show that agents monitored Wiles’ cellphone from February to May 2023, tracking calls made to nearly two dozen lawyers associated with Trump. The logs, released on Monday, include conversations with campaign staff, political advisors, and some journalists—most of whom are unnamed, except for current FBI Director Kash Patel, who was not in government service at that time.

The bureau kept a close watch on Wiles’ calls with Trump, noting that he used a “vanity number,” which is a phone number that spells a memorable word. While the specific word wasn’t disclosed, records show entries like this from May 19, 2023: “2:05 pm The FPOTUS Vanity Number called WILES for 16 minutes and 11 seconds.”

The daily logs indicate that Wiles’ phone was used nearly constantly, with incoming or outgoing calls happening roughly every 10 minutes.

For instance, on March 9, 2023, Wiles either made or received 39 calls:

• 6:00 pm – Campaign 9 called Wiles, and they spoke for 39 seconds.
• 6:10 pm – Lawyer 10 called Wiles for 49 seconds.
• 6:22 pm – Wiles attempted to call Campaign 4.
• 6:22 pm – Wiles called Campaign 8 for 56 seconds.
• 6:27 pm – Campaign 4 called Wiles.
• 6:39 pm – Lawyer 12 called Wiles for 6 minutes and 50 seconds.
• 8:10 pm – The FPOTUS Vanity Number called Wiles for 4 minutes and 1 second.

An email noted that “Lawyer 7 called Wiles at 2:04 pm this afternoon for 41 seconds,” recorded on a March 24, 2023, email.

Additionally, “Lawyer 7 first called Wiles at 2:10 pm EST on March 21, and Wiles returned his call for 1 minute and 34 seconds later that day at 2:59 pm,” another agent documented. “These are the only contacts we have observed between the two of them since the PR/TT’s inception.”

Another message from an FBI intelligence analyst in late February mentioned that “an ABC News reporter called her at 8:48 AM for 2 minutes and 36 seconds.”

As of April 2023, Wiles had participated in an interview with FBI agents in Jacksonville, Florida, after which her communication records were also examined. One memo indicates that on April 10, 2023, WFO [redacted] reviewed WILES’ call logs for contacts of interest coinciding with her FBI interview that day.

On that date, Wiles had conversations with former President Trump and a number of his lawyers, along with receiving calls from a Washington Post reporter and the Florida bureau chief for Politico.

At that time, Smith’s investigation was focused on grand jury proceedings to determine possible obstruction of justice and whether Trump had falsely claimed that all classified materials had been returned to the National Archives.

In July 2024, a federal judge dismissed the documents case against Trump, ruling that Smith had been unlawfully appointed by Garland.

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