White House task force releases records on FBI tracking of Susie Wiles' calls in Jack Smith probe

Right · 2The White House Government Transparency Task Force released declassified records on Monday 5 October 2026 showing that investigators in Jack Smith's classified documents inquiry tracked the phone contacts of Susie Wiles, who ran Trump's 2024 campaign and is now White House chief of staff. 1 2 Right · 2The task force is led by Just the News founder John Solomon. The monitoring was part of an investigation code-named "Plasmic Echo". 1 2 Right · 1The Washington Examiner reports that investigators obtained phone metadata through a pen register, which records numbers and call timing rather than content, so the records do not show what Wiles discussed. It says they examined communications involving at least five journalists, 21 defence attorneys and several political advisers. 1

Right · 1The New York Post describes the same activity as the FBI having "tapped" Wiles' cell phone. Its account of the logs says they cover calls between February and May 2023 with nearly two dozen Trump-linked lawyers, plus campaign aides, advisers and journalists, with Trump's calls noted via a "vanity number". Most identities are redacted, but the Post says current FBI Director Kash Patel, then out of government, is named. 2 Right · 2Examples cited include a 10 March 2023 FBI memo with three pages of Wiles' contacts, a call logged on 19 May 2023 from Trump's number lasting 16 minutes 11 seconds, and calls from reporters at outlets including the Washington Post, Politico, CNN, Just the News and ABC News. The Post says Wiles received 39 calls on 9 March 2023. 1 2 Right · 1The Examiner adds that the release included preservation requests sent on 3 February 2023 to Google, Microsoft, MSN and Yahoo for Wiles' email information, and an FBI email asking staff to check the social media of Robert O'Brien, Trump's former national security adviser, two days before Smith's team subpoenaed him. 1

Right · 1The Post reports that the records also show the FBI tracing Melania and Barron Trump's travel in May 2022 while planning the best time to search Mar-a-Lago, so that any warrant would be served after the former president left. The raid took place on 8 August 2022 and included Trump's office and the first couple's bedrooms. 2 Right · 2Both outlets say then-FBI Director Christopher Wray recommended approval of the sensitive investigation, writing "I recommend you approve" (the Post quotes a typo, "recomend"). They differ on details: the Examiner dates the memo to March 2022 and says Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco signed it, while the Post dates it to May 2022 and says Attorney General Merrick Garland signed off. 1 2 Right · 1The Examiner also highlights a previously unreported 3 November 2023 meeting between the FBI, Smith's staff and former CIA Director John Brennan at CIA headquarters about possible expert testimony. It notes that the memo says no documents were shown and Brennan took no notes, and that Smith told Sen. Chuck Grassley a week earlier "I've never met John Brennan." 1

Right · 2The White House called the surveillance abuse. Spokesperson Lauren Bis said it was "a disgraceful abuse of government power" and that "those responsible must be held accountable." An administration official quoted by the Examiner said investigators showed inappropriate interest in protected political and journalistic activity. No response from Smith or the former FBI and Justice Department officials appears in either article. 2 1 Right · 1Context: the documents case against Trump was dismissed in July 2024 by a federal judge who found Smith had been unlawfully appointed by Garland, according to the Post. 2