Associated Incidents
An impersonator breached the phone of White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, President Donald Trump said Friday, and pretended to be her in calls and messages received by her high-profile contacts.
Trump did not go into detail about the impersonation but told reporters he was not concerned because Wiles is "an amazing woman" who "can handle it."
"I've heard they breached her phone and tried to impersonate her," Trump said. "Nobody can impersonate Susie. There's only one Susie."
The White House says the matter is being investigated.
The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that senators, governors and business executives have received text messages and phone calls over the past few weeks from someone claiming to be Wiles. Though the messages and calls did not come from Wiles's phone number, the alleged impersonator appeared to have gained access to the contacts in Wiles's personal cellphone, she told associates, according to unidentified sources familiar with the matter.
It's unclear what else the alleged impersonator may have accessed. As chief of staff, Wiles has the highest security clearance available.
"The FBI takes all threats against the president, his staff, and our cybersecurity with the utmost seriousness," FBI Director Kash Patel said in a statement. "Safeguarding our administration officials' ability to securely communicate to accomplish the president's mission is a top priority."
Earlier this month, the FBI issued a public service announcement warning of an "ongoing malicious text and voice messaging campaign" that began in April, involving "malicious actors" impersonating senior U.S. officials to target other senior government officials and their contacts.
According to the FBI, these "malicious actors" have sent text messages and artificial-intelligence-generated voice messages claiming to be a senior U.S. official to try to get access to their targets' personal accounts. "Access to personal or official accounts operated by U.S. officials could be used to target other government officials, or their associates and contacts, by using trusted contact information they obtain," the FBI said. "Contact information acquired through social engineering schemes could also be used to impersonate contacts to elicit information or funds."
Last year, FBI agents probing alleged Iranian hacking attempts directed at the Trump and Biden-Harris campaigns gathered evidence that indicated that Wiles, a former lobbyist with an extensive contacts list, had been one of the targets.