Report: FBI subpoenaed phone records of Patel and Wiles during Biden-era federal investigations
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Kash Patel, joined by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, delivers remarks. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
OAN Staff Addie Davis 2:56 PM – Thursday, February 26, 2026
The FBI reportedly subpoenaed the phone records of FBI Director Kash Patel and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles during federal investigations under the Biden administration targeting President Donald Trump.
“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 in a statement to Reuters, who first reported the story.
(L-R) U.S. Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Scott Turner, and U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke L. Rollins look on during a meeting of the Cabinet in the Cabinet Room of the White House on January 29, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
The subpoenas, which were issued in 2022 and 2023, largely coinciding with the classified documents and 2020 election interference investigations of the now-president, were for “toll records” of calls, which includes the exact duration and time of calls as well as who they were made to, excluding their content, the outlet reported.
The phone records were filed as “Prohibited,” which makes them more difficult to find through the FBI’s computer systems. Patel recently ended the FBI’s ability to categorize files in this way, according to Reuters. The FBI director informed the outlet this week that he still doesn’t understand the purpose for which the records were seized.
Additionally, the Biden administration’s FBI reportedly recorded a phone call between the White House chief of staff, Susie Wiles, and her attorney. Although her attorney was aware the call was being recorded, Wiles was not, according to Fox News.
Wiles and Patel were both private citizens at the time and were heavily involved in Trump’s campaign for reelection.
Then-Special Counsel Jack Smith, appointed in 2022, charged Trump with 40 felony counts in a superseding indictment related to the mishandling of classified documents found during the FBI’s court-authorized search of Mar-a-Lago. While Smith was investigating Trump, his office got secret court orders for Wiles and Patel’s phone records.
In 2025, the House Judiciary Committee subpoenaed Smith as part of an investigation into his conduct and the origins of the federal probes into the president.
Smith has consistently claimed that he acted according to the law during the investigations. However, Smith has also long been criticized for his probes, with many accusing him of unfairly targeting Trump and his allies in political “lawfare.”
Reuters reported that subpoenas and collection of phone calls during investigations is routine. However, this comes in the wake of widespread accusations that Biden’s Department of Justice (DOJ) was weaponized against Trump and Republicans at the time.
Patel, the White House and the FBI have not released any official statements regarding the phone records as of Thursday afternoon.
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