Kash Patel Fires 10 Agents After ‘Shocking’ Wiretapping Scandal
White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles was reportedly stunned to learn that the FBI, operating under former President Joe Biden, subpoenaed her phone records during high-profile investigations targeting President Donald J. Trump.
Wiles — who steered Trump’s successful 2024 presidential campaign before assuming her current West Wing role — reacted bluntly when the news surfaced. “I am in shock,” she told associates, according to Axios. The disclosure has reignited fierce debate over the tactics deployed by Biden-era Justice Department officials during their sweeping investigations into Trump.
According to Reuters, federal investigators obtained toll records belonging to both Wiles and current FBI Director Kash Patel in 2022 and 2023. The subpoenas were issued while special counsel Jack Smith was spearheading probes into Trump’s challenge of the 2020 election results and his handling of classified materials at Mar-a-Lago.
The records reportedly included metadata — such as phone numbers dialed and timestamps of calls — but did not capture the substance of any conversations.
However, a separate revelation has drawn sharper criticism. In 2023, the FBI recorded a phone call between Wiles and her attorney. Two FBI officials told Reuters that the attorney was aware of and consented to the recording, but Wiles herself was not informed.
For Trump allies and many congressional Republicans, the notion that the campaign manager — and now chief of staff — to a former and future president had her communications scrutinized underscores what they view as a pattern of politically charged overreach during the Biden administration.
The subpoenas came amid an aggressive prosecutorial phase. In 2023, Smith brought multiple felony charges against Trump related to alleged election interference and retention of classified documents. President Trump denied all wrongdoing. Following his decisive 2024 re-election victory, Smith moved to dismiss the election interference case, which a federal judge subsequently threw out. Smith also withdrew the Justice Department’s appeal in the classified documents matter.
The recording of Wiles’ call with counsel has further inflamed critics, who argue the episode raises serious questions about investigative boundaries and respect for constitutional protections.
Director Patel delivered a scathing rebuke of prior FBI leadership in response to the revelations.
“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 said.
Patel has since eliminated the bureau’s use of the “Prohibited” file classification — a designation he argues restricted internal transparency and shielded sensitive investigative actions from routine oversight.
The controversy erupted alongside a shakeup within the bureau. At least 10 FBI employees were terminated this week, though their identities were withheld due to privacy protections.
The FBI Agents Association sharply criticized the dismissals.
“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 association said. “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.”
The episode unfolds amid broader Republican efforts to scrutinize the investigative conduct of the Biden-era Justice Department. House GOP lawmakers have already held combative hearings with Smith and other former officials, pressing them on the use of surveillance authorities, subpoena power, and internal review mechanisms during the Trump investigations.
While legal analysts note that toll record subpoenas are a common investigative tool and do not inherently imply misconduct by the individuals whose data is collected, the political sensitivity surrounding this case — involving the sitting president’s closest advisers — has intensified public and congressional scrutiny.
It remains unclear whether additional Trump associates were subjected to similar subpoenas during the same timeframe. Congressional Republicans are expected to demand further documentation from the Justice Department and FBI detailing the scope of records obtained, the legal basis cited, and whether proper oversight safeguards were followed.
For many Americans, the central question now is whether the nation’s premier law enforcement agency operated within its constitutional guardrails — or whether partisan motivations blurred the line between legitimate investigation and political targeting.