Federal authorities are looking into an effort to impersonate White House chief of staff Susie Wiles after government figures received messages purportedly from the top Trump aide via text message and phone.
The messages to prominent Republican lawmakers and business executives included her voice in some instances, leading officials to believe whoever was behind the impersonation used artificial intelligence.
Red flags emerged, however, leading these figures to question whether it was really Wiles behind the messages.
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. (WSJ)
This is not the first time Wiles has been the subject of a hacking operation. Last year, Iranian operatives gained access to her email account, where they discovered a research dossier on JD Vance.
FBI Director Kash Patel said it's a "top priority" for the agency to safeguard "officials' ability to securely communicate to accomplish the president's mission."
Meanwhile, a White House spokesperson said the incident is continuing to be investigated.
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