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The FBI subpoenaed Kash Patel and Susie Wiles’ phone records in 2022 and 2023, when both were private citizens, as part of a federal probe into then former President Donald Trump, Fox News has confirmed.
Patel is the current FBI director, and Wiles is White House chief of staff.
At least 10 FBI employees were also fired Wednesday, Fox News was told. Names were not given due to privacy reasons, with the FBI Agents Association (FBIAA) later 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.”
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.
Smith ended up charging Trump in 2023 with multiple felony offenses related to alleged efforts to challenge the results of the 2020 election and Trump’s handling of the documents after he left office.
A federal judge later dismissed the election interference case after Smith moved to drop it following Trump’s re-election, citing a Justice Department policy against prosecuting a sitting president.
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.
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In a statement to Fox News Wednesday, Patel called the move to seize the phone records “outrageous and deeply alarming.”
“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,” he said.
The FBI had found the phone records in files labeled as “Prohibited,” Reuters reported.
Patel also said he recently ended the FBI’s ability to categorize files as “Prohibited.”
Fox News also learned from two FBI officials that in 2023, FBI agents recorded a phone call between Wiles and her attorney.
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According to those officials, Wiles’ attorney was aware the call was being recorded and consented, but Wiles was not informed.
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Smith testified last year that records of members’ calls helped investigators verify the timeline of events surrounding the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
He said prosecutors “followed all legal requirements in getting those records” and told a House panel the records obtained from lawmakers did not include the content of conversations, Reuters reported.
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