In 2023, Kash Patel and Susie Wiles were private citizens. Joe Biden occupied the Oval Office. Merrick Garland led the Department of Justice. And former Special Counsel Jack Smith was pressing forward with investigations into Donald Trump, including the classified documents case tied to Mar-a-Lago and the so-called “Arctic Frost” probe into alleged election interference.
Now, years later, new reporting is raising serious questions about how far federal authorities went during that period.
According to Reuters, federal investigators collected phone records belonging to Patel — now serving as FBI director — and Susie Wiles, who currently serves as President Trump’s chief of staff. The records were reportedly gathered around the time of the Mar-a-Lago classified documents investigation. Patel told Reuters that investigators obtained “toll records,” which show the timing and recipients of calls but not their content.
Reuters confirming Special Counsel Jack Smith sought and obtained phone records of then private citizens Kash Patel and Susie Wiles related to his investigations into the president. The FBI then placed the files in a "prohibited access" folder--which Wray's FBI did in the Hunter…
— Julie Kelly 🇺🇸 (@julie_kelly2) February 26, 2026
The most controversial detail centers on how those records were stored. Reuters reports the files were labeled “Prohibited,” placing them in a restricted-access system. Patel alleges this classification made the material extremely difficult to locate once he assumed leadership of the bureau in February 2025. The use of a “prohibited access” folder mirrors a tactic previously reported in connection with the Hunter Biden investigation under former FBI Director Christopher Wray.
Patel did not mince words in his response. “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,” he said in a statement to Reuters.
The outlet noted it could not independently verify the full scope, timing, or motive behind the seizure of the phone records. Still, the implications are significant. Reuters further reported that Special Counsel Jack Smith had sought similar toll records for several Republican U.S. senators and at least one Republican member of the House during the same broader investigative push.
🚨 BREAKING: FBI Director Kash Patel just FIRED 10 Deep State agents involved in seizing the PHONE RECORDS of Kash Patel and now-White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles before Trump began his 2nd term
GOOD RIDDANCE! Keep purging, Director Patel! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/ZFjIon8tm8
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) February 25, 2026
The fallout has already begun. Fox News correspondent David Spunt reported that at least 10 FBI employees were fired Wednesday in connection with the matter, with additional dismissals potentially forthcoming. Patel characterized the episode as “outrageous and deeply disturbing” in comments to Fox News.
The controversy adds another layer to ongoing debates about the conduct of federal law enforcement during the Biden administration. Critics have long argued that the Justice Department’s investigations into Trump reflected overreach. Supporters of the probes have maintained they were legitimate inquiries grounded in law.
What is clear is that the revelations are intensifying scrutiny of the FBI’s internal processes — particularly how sensitive investigative records are obtained, labeled, and concealed. As Patel undertakes what appears to be a sweeping internal review, the episode is poised to become a defining test of accountability within the bureau.