FBI investigating alleged effort to impersonate White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles
The FBI is looking into a person or people pretending to be White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.
An unknown impersonator reportedly sent texts and made phone calls to Wiles' contacts, including prominent Republican politicians and business executives. Wiles has told her colleagues that her phone's contacts were hacked, sources told the Journal. According to those sources, her personal cellphone, not her government device, was the one targeted.
The Journal reports that some of the individuals contacted believed that the messages came from Wiles, including one requesting a list of people that Trump could pardon. During phone calls, the impersonator reportedly used a voice that sounded like the chief of staff's, which may have been created via artificial intelligence, according to the report.
But those who were contacted eventually questioned the source of information when the impersonator asked for a cash transfer and began to make grammatical errors or use language that did not seem consistent with Wiles'. The requests from the person posing as Wiles were also coming from a different phone number.
During the presidential campaign, Wiles was reportedly the victim of an Iranian operation that hacked her email account. This time, the FBI has told the White House that it does not suspect foreign government involvement, according to the Journal.
'The FBI takes all threats against the president, his staff, and our cybersecurity with the utmost seriousness,' FBI Director Kash Patel told the Journal in a statement. 'Safeguarding our administration officials' ability to securely communicate to accomplish the president's mission is a top priority.'
A White House spokeswoman told the Journal that they take 'cybersecurity of all staff very seriously, and this matter continues to be investigated.'
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