Officials probe impersonation of White House Chief of Staff

WH Chief of Staff Susie Wiles targeted in identity scam, report says

Robert Besser
01 Jun 2025, 22:51 GMT+10

Officials probe impersonation of White House Chief of Staff

U.S. federal officials are looking into an attempt by someone who pretended to be White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal
The report says Wiles told people she knew that her personal phone contacts were hacked, allowing someone to pretend to be her and access private phone numbers
In recent weeks, senators, governors, top business leaders, and others received messages and calls from someone claiming to be Wiles, according to people familiar with the situation

WASHINGTON, D.C.: U.S. federal officials are looking into an attempt by someone who pretended to be White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.

The report says Wiles told people she knew that her personal phone contacts were hacked, allowing someone to pretend to be her and access private phone numbers. The hack affected her phone, not her official government phone.

In recent weeks, senators, governors, top business leaders, and others received messages and calls from someone claiming to be Wiles, according to people familiar with the situation.

The White House and FBI have not yet commented on the case.

This is not the first time the White House has faced security problems. Earlier this month, a hacker, according to Reuters, broke into the communications of former Trump adviser Mike Waltz, reaching many U.S. officials.

Also, last year, a White House official said that the U.S. believed a large Chinese cyber spying operation had been recording calls of high-level American leaders.

Because Susie Wiles is a close Trump ally and an essential figure in the White House, her phone could hold information that is very valuable to foreign spies or hostile groups.

This isn't the first time she has been targeted. In late 2024, hackers believed to be working for Iran sent messages involving Wiles to journalists and a political operative. Some of those messages were later made public.