Biden-era FBI tracked Melania and Barron Trump’s travel ahead of Mar-a-Lago raid, docs show

WASHINGTON, DC: Newly released documents show that the Biden-era FBI tracked travel by Melania Trump and Barron Trump while preparing for the 2022 search of Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home, and later monitored the cellphone activity of Susie Wiles, who would become President Donald Trump's White House chief of staff.

The surveillance was part of special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into whether Trump illegally retained national security documents after leaving office.

The documents were released Monday, October 5, by the White House Government Transparency Task Force and detail how investigators planned the search and followed communications connected to Trump’s political operation. 

FBI tracked Melania and Barron Trump's travel as part of 'Plasmic Echo'

The FBI’s secret investigation, known as “Plasmic Echo,” was already examining the Trumps' movements before agents searched Mar-a-Lago on August 8, 2022.

A late-May 2022 email outlined steps to monitor Trump, Melania, and their son Barron’s travel. One item called for investigators to “Finalize FBI understanding of FPOTUS/FLOTUS/minor son’s travel (type of aircraft and specific timeline).”

The planning also included finalizing the search warrant, coordinating with the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida and completing coordination between the FBI, Justice Department and Secret Service in West Palm Beach.

“Any search warrants would be served after the former President departs Mar a Lago,” another document noted.

Christopher Wray, the then-FBI director, warned in a May 2022 memo that the sensitive investigation could involve senior figures from Trump’s administration and “could potentially be disruptive to the democratic process if publicly disclosed prior to an election.”

Then-Attorney General Merrick Garland approved the wiretap request after receiving Wray’s recommendation. Wray wrote by hand, “Merrick, I recomend you approve. CW.”

A month before the raid, an unnamed special agent also questioned the legal authority to search the former president’s office and bedroom and suggested investigators consider conversations with Trump’s attorneys.

The August 8 search ultimately included Trump’s office and the bedrooms belonging to him and Melania.

Susie Wiles’ phone activity was monitored after Mar-a-Lago search

The newly released files also detail surveillance of Wiles, who was running Trump’s political operation for the 2024 election.

Investigators monitored her cellphone activity from February through May 2023, including calls with nearly two dozen lawyers connected to the president.

The records also included contacts with campaign aides, political advisers, and journalists.

Most identities were redacted. One exception was Kash Patel, who is now the FBI director.

The records also show calls between Wiles and Trump. In one entry dated May 19, 2023, investigators recorded, “The FPOTUS Vanity Number called WILES for 16 minutes and 11 seconds.”

Another March 9 record showed 39 calls involving campaign figures, lawyers and Wiles, including a four-minute call from Trump’s number later that evening.

FBI records followed Susie Wiles’ contacts with Trump's lawyers and reporters

The surveillance records went beyond simply logging Wiles’ calls with Trump allies.

In a March 24 email, an investigator wrote that “[Lawyer 7] called Wiles at 2:04pm this afternoon for 41 seconds.”

The investigator added that the lawyer had first contacted Wiles three days earlier and that she returned the call for one minute and 34 seconds, noting that those were the only contacts between the two since the start of the investigation.

The records also show that an ABC News reporter called Wiles in late February for two minutes and 36 seconds.

By April 2023, Wiles had been interviewed by the FBI in Jacksonville, Florida. Investigators reviewed her phone activity around the interview to identify contacts they considered relevant.

An April 10 record said the FBI office reviewed “WILES’s telephonic activity to determine contacts of interest on the date of her FBI interview.”

That day, Wiles spoke with Trump and several lawyers. She also received calls from a Washington Post reporter and the Florida bureau chief of Politico.

At the time, Smith’s investigation was focused on grand jury proceedings involving potential obstruction and whether Trump had falsely claimed that all classified documents had been returned to the National Archives.