Agents tracked Melania and Barron Trump’s movements while monitoring calls involving lawyers, advisers and journalists
The FBI tracked the movements of Donald Trump’s wife and teenage son and monitored the phone contacts of one of his closest aides during its investigation of the then-former US president, newly declassified documents have revealed.
The disclosures are fueling accusations from the White House that the Biden administration weaponized federal law enforcement against its main political rival. The files shed new light on an FBI probe codenamed Plasmic Echo, which examined Trump’s handling of classified documents and ultimately led to the 2022 raid on his Mar-a-Lago residence.
Internal planning records show that agents sought detailed information on the travel of Trump, Melania and their son Barron while preparing to search the Florida estate.
One FBI task list instructed investigators to “finalize FBI understanding of FPOTUS/FLOTUS/minor son’s travel,” including the type of aircraft being used and a “specific timeline.” Another internal message indicated that any search warrant would be executed only after Trump had left Mar-a-Lago.
The surveillance dragnet later extended to Susie Wiles, then one of Trump’s closest advisers and now his White House chief of staff.
Between February and May 2023, investigators used a pen register and trap-and-trace system to monitor metadata associated with Wiles’ phone. It allowed agents to track numbers, timing and duration of calls involving lawyers, campaign advisers, journalists and others in Trump’s orbit.
In one instance, investigators reviewed Wiles’ phone activity shortly after interviewing her, apparently seeking to determine whom she contacted following the meeting. Agents also sent preservation requests to Google, Microsoft, MSN and Yahoo for information associated with her email accounts and examined political endorsements and social-media activity by Trump allies.
The newly released White House materials also say agents scrutinized political endorsements, social-media activity and other constitutionally protected conduct while trying to determine whether Trump had broken the law by taking classified documents to Mar-a-Lago after leaving office.
“Jack Smith’s surveillance operation was a disgraceful abuse of government power,” White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis told Fox News. “Spying on political opponents is weaponization of law enforcement, plain and simple.”
The investigation was conducted under President Joe Biden and overseen by senior Justice Department and FBI officials. Trump and his allies have repeatedly accused Biden of turning federal agencies into political weapons, an allegation the previous administration denied.
Trump was ultimately charged with illegally retaining classified material and obstructing efforts to recover it, but denied wrongdoing. A federal judge dismissed the case in July 2024 after ruling that special counsel Jack Smith had been unlawfully appointed. Smith later abandoned the prosecution following Trump’s election victory.
