Susie Wiles Phone Scandal Deepens: Her Own Lawyer Denies Consenting to FBI Recording
The Susie Wiles phone surveillance story is getting more explosive by the hour. What began Wednesday as the revelation that the Biden-era FBI secretly subpoenaed White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles' phone records has now evolved into a full-blown attorney-client privilege scandal — with Wiles' own former lawyer categorically denying he ever consented to letting the FBI record her calls.
Susie Wiles Attorney Denies Ever Consenting to FBI Recording
The most stunning new development landed Thursday night, February 26, 2026 ET. The lawyer representing Susie Wiles at the time of the incident categorically denied he allowed his client to be recorded by the FBI without her consent. He told reporter Marc Caputo: "If I ever pulled a stunt like that I wouldn't — and shouldn't — have a license to practice law. I'm as shocked as Susie."
Wiles believes her lawyer and now suspects the Biden-era FBI may have lied about receiving attorney consent for the recorded call. The contradiction between the FBI's version of events and the attorney's flat denial has sent the story into entirely new legal territory — raising questions about whether the recording was obtained through outright deception.
FBI Recorded Wiles Speaking Privately With Her Own Lawyer
Reuters reported that in 2023, the FBI recorded a phone call between Wiles and her attorney. Wiles' attorney was aware that the call was being recorded and consented to it — but Susie Wiles was not. The recording of a private attorney-client conversation without the client's knowledge is among the most legally sensitive actions a law enforcement agency can take.
Wiles reportedly told associates "I am in shock" upon learning about the full extent of the probe. That shock only deepened Thursday when her former attorney publicly contradicted the FBI's account — transforming what was already a political firestorm into a potential criminal referral question.
Kash Patel Fires 10 FBI Agents — More Terminations Expected
FBI Director Kash Patel fired agents and analysts who collected records on him and Wiles under the Biden administration. The terminations took place Wednesday as part of the Trump administration's ongoing effort to remove officials connected to the Jack Smith investigation.
The purge came just days after critics slammed the FBI director for disrespecting Trump on a call from the Team USA Olympic locker room in Italy, where he was filmed drinking a beer during celebrations. Trump officials told Axios the news might be just "the tip of the iceberg," with the FBI having potentially probed far more Trump-world figures than publicly known.
FBI Agents Association Calls the Firings Unlawful
The FBI Agents Association pushed back on the firings forcefully. "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 in a public statement.
The FBI's own spokesman Ben Williamson appeared to publicly confirm the existence of the subpoenas in a post on X — an unusually direct institutional acknowledgment that did nothing to quiet the political storm surrounding Patel's aggressive response.
"Prohibited Access" Files: How the Biden FBI Buried the Evidence
Patel told Reuters that investigators obtained "toll records" — the timing and recipients of calls — for Patel and Wiles in 2022 and 2023, amid the federal probe of whether Trump improperly stored classified documents at Mar-a-Lago.
The records were buried in FBI files labeled as "Prohibited Access" — a hidden designation designed to restrict access. Senator Chuck Grassley, who said he was the first to sound the alarm on the existence of Prohibited Access files at the FBI, called the revelations about Wiles and Patel "terrible," and revealed he had already mapped out a timeline of the investigation dating back to 2022 — arguing that hundreds of Republicans, including lawmakers and affiliated organizations, were swept into its investigative dragnet through subpoenas and records requests.
What Comes Next: Legal Action, Senate Probes, and More Firings
Questions are mounting over whether Patel or Wiles plan to file legal actions over the revelations. Will there be a probe or review to determine which records were seized and who approved the subpoenas? Neither Wiles nor Patel has ruled out legal action as of Friday morning ET.
Reuters could not independently establish what records the FBI obtained or who approved the subpoenas, and could not ascertain if Patel or Wiles themselves were ever formally designated as investigative subjects. As the story continues to develop on Friday, February 27 ET, the combination of a disputed attorney-client recording, a mass FBI firing, hidden surveillance files, and a White House chief of staff in open shock has produced one of the most consequential political scandals of the early Trump second term.
