Federal authorities are reportedly investigating an effort to impersonate White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles.
Several individuals familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal that the impersonator reached out to several prominent Republicans as Wiles.
In recent weeks, senators, governors, top U.S. business executives and other well-known figures have received text messages and phone calls from a person who claimed to be the chief of staff, the people familiar with the messages said.
But the messages weren’t from Wiles—and the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the White House are trying to figure out who is behind the effort and what the goal is, according to some of the people. FBI officials have told the White House they don’t believe a foreign nation is involved, some of the people said.
“The White House takes the cybersecurity of all staff very seriously, and this matter continues to be investigated,” a White House spokeswoman said.
“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.”
🚨FBI Probes White House Imposter
— America Out Loud News (@OutLoudNews) May 30, 2025
One or more unknown people accessed White House chief of staff Susie Wiles' personal cellphone and used her contacts file to reach out to other top officials and impersonate her, sources told CBS News Thursday. pic.twitter.com/8d0q3ie0H1
Wiles, the first woman to occupy this position, also managed President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign.
Someone in Trump’s orbit informed people that Wiles’ phone had been hacked. Some of those who received messages from the impersonator became suspicious after the individual asked them to continue the conversation using another messaging app such as Telegram.
But the effort didn’t only involve text messages. The Journal reported that someone using a voice that sounded like Wiles also called some of her contacts.
In some of the text messages, people received requests that they initially believed to be official. One lawmaker, for example, was asked by the impersonator to assemble a list of individuals who could be pardoned by the president.
It became clear to some of the lawmakers that the requests were suspicious when the impersonator began asking questions about Trump that Wiles should have known the answers to—and in one case, when the impersonator asked for a cash transfer, some of the people said. In many cases, the impersonator’s grammar was broken and the messages were more formal than the way Wiles typically communicates, people who have received the messages said. The calls and text messages also didn’t come from Wiles’s phone number.
U.S. intelligence agencies have looked into the impersonation, some of the people said. Members of Congress have been notified about the campaign to impersonate Wiles, some of the people said.
It couldn’t be determined how the impersonator was able to gain access to Wiles’s phone contacts, some of the people said.
Despite Wiles warning her contacts that she had been hacked, the impersonator is still sending messages. It is not yet clear what the individual is trying to accomplish.
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