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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The FBI has subpoenaed records of phone calls made in 2022 and 2023 between Kash Patel, then a civilian, and Susie Wiles, who is now the FBI director and White House chief of staff, Patel told Reuters on Wednesday.
Patel said Reuters first reported on the FBI’s actions under the Biden administration, primarily during Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into whether President Trump interfered in the 2020 election and hid classified documents at Mar-a-Lago. Mr Smith was appointed to take over the investigation in November 2022.
Patel portrayed the FBI’s seizure of his phone records and efforts to cover them up as an example of overreach by unelected government officials under former President Joe Biden’s administration, a theme often echoed by President Trump.
“It is deeply disturbing that former FBI leadership used flimsy pretexts to secretly subpoena my own phone records and that of current White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, hiding the entire process in a prohibited case file to avoid all scrutiny,” Patel said in a statement to Reuters.
Reuters was unable to independently verify many details about Patel’s claims, including the full extent, timing and motive of the seizure of phone records. Patel said the records were stored in a way that made them difficult for him and other FBI leaders to discover after he took over the bureau in February 2025.
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Congressional Democrats have consistently defended Mr. Smith from past Republican criticism, insisting that he acted appropriately in seeking phone records and other evidence they say are necessary for a thorough investigation into allegations of wrongdoing by Mr. Trump and his associates.
Investigators routinely issue subpoenas and collect phone records, even of high-profile individuals, during investigations while trying to determine key facts of a case and who is involved in a particular case.
Patel publicly said in 2022 that Trump had declassified documents brought to Mar-a-Lago, a claim that prosecutors disputed and Trump’s lawyers did not argue in court. Patel was subpoenaed to hear evidence before a grand jury that year after being granted limited immunity from criminal charges.
Reuters could not independently reveal what records the FBI obtained or who authorized the subpoena. The news agency also could not confirm whether Patel or Wiles themselves are being investigated, and if so, why. Both men were close during this time, as Trump was working toward and eventually launching a campaign to regain the presidency in 2024.
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Mr. Patel and Mr. Wiles are known to have been questioned by investigators as part of Mr. Smith’s investigation into the retention of classified documents after Mr. Trump’s first term.
Two FBI officials said the FBI recorded a call between Wiles and his attorney in 2023. Wiles’ attorney was aware that the call was being recorded and agreed to it, but Susie Wiles was not recorded.
A spokesman for Mr. Smith declined to comment on Mr. Patel’s allegations on February 25. Biden, former Attorney General Merrick Garland and former FBI Director Chris Wray, who oversaw the bureau during the Smith investigation, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Garland appointed Smith as special prosecutor.
On February 23, a federal judge permanently barred the Justice Department from releasing Smith’s report on the document review. Smith told Congress that a court order prohibits him from discussing any aspect of the investigation not previously disclosed in court filings.
Smith previously told Congress that investigators had serious concerns about obstruction of justice in the investigation. He told lawmakers last month that his office “followed Department of Justice policy, complied with legal requirements, and acted based on the facts and law.”
The White House and Mr. Wiles did not immediately comment.
Patel said investigators used subpoenas to obtain so-called “call records,” which listed the times and details of the recipients of calls he and Wiles made, but did not include what was said on the calls. The government can legally obtain phone records through subpoena without a judge’s approval.
Patel said investigators obtained the records around the time Smith was leading an investigation into allegations that Trump illegally took classified documents to his Mar-a-Lago home in South Florida and obstructed federal efforts to return those documents after he left office in 2021.
Mr. Smith indicted Mr. Trump on felony charges related to the investigation in 2023, but the case was ultimately dismissed by a federal judge, and after Mr. Trump won a second term, Mr. Smith withdrew his appeal of the ruling. President Trump has denied any wrongdoing in connection with the Smith investigation.
Patel said she did not know the purpose of the FBI’s seizure of her phone records and that of Wiles, who became Trump’s top adviser after leaving office in 2021 and eventually co-campaign manager for his 2024 campaign with Biden. Mr. Patel was also a political ally of Mr. Trump during this period.
Patel said the collection of phone records extended to Wiles’ time as Trump’s co-campaign manager, but he declined to say when the collection began or ended.
The FBI found phone records in a file classified as “prohibited.” As a result, it is difficult to discover on FBI computer systems. Patel said he recently ended the FBI’s ability to classify files as “prohibited.”
Mr. Smith’s investigative methods have previously drawn criticism from Republican leaders, including the seizure of phone records of U.S. senators and other Republican officials during Mr. Smith’s investigation into allegations that he tried to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
Smith testified last year that members’ phone records helped investigators verify the timeline of events before and after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, and that prosecutors “followed all legal requirements in obtaining these records.” He told a House committee that records obtained from lawmakers did not include the conversation.
Reporting by Jana Winter in Washington, DC. With contributions from Brad Heath and Andrew Goudsward in Washington, DC. Editing: Craig Tinberg and Michael Learmonth
