Newly declassified FBI documents are raising fresh questions about the Biden administration’s investigation of President Donald Trump, revealing that federal agents monitored communications involving his attorneys, political advisers and journalists while also tracking his family’s travel ahead of the 2022 search of Mar-a-Lago.
The records, released through a White House transparency initiative, provide an unusually detailed look at the FBI investigation known internally as “Plasmic Echo.”
The documents show investigators collected telephone metadata involving Susie Wiles, now Trump’s White House chief of staff, and examined her contacts with at least 21 defense attorneys, political advisers and multiple journalists.
The records also reveal that senior FBI and Justice Department officials were involved in approving sensitive investigative activity involving Trump and his associates.
Independent journalist Catherine Herridge highlighted several of the disclosures, including a March 2022 memorandum bearing the initials of then-FBI Director Christopher Wray and Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco.
The findings have renewed questions about the scope of the federal investigation and whether investigators took adequate precautions when collecting information involving attorneys, journalists and political figures.
Among the most significant revelations are records detailing the FBI’s monitoring of Wiles, who was a senior Trump political adviser during the investigation.
According to the declassified documents, investigators used a pen register and trap-and-trace process to collect information about calls made to and from her telephone.
The surveillance reportedly continued from at least February through May 2023.
Unlike traditional wiretapping, pen registers and trap-and-trace technology collect information about communications rather than recording the conversations themselves.