The FBI subpoenaed phone records of Kash Patel and Susie Wiles in 2022 and 2023, when both were private citizens, as part of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigations into President Donald Trump, Patel told Reuters.
According to Patel, the records were obtained during probes into alleged 2020 election interference and the classified documents case involving Mar-a-Lago. He said investigators collected “toll records” — showing call times and recipients, but not content — using subpoenas that do not require a judge’s approval.
Patel accused prior FBI leadership under the Biden administration of overreach and claimed the records were placed in restricted files that made them difficult to locate after he became FBI director in 2025. He said he has since ended the bureau’s use of that file category.
Smith, appointed in November 2022 by then-Attorney General Merrick Garland, previously said his office followed Justice Department policies and legal requirements. Democrats have defended the investigative steps as routine, noting that subpoenas for phone metadata are common in federal probes.
