The FBI is investigating a mysterious series of text messages from an unknown individual that appears to be impersonating White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles.
According to the Wall Street Journal, this unidentified person has been posing as Wiles, sending text messages and making phone calls to Republican lawmakers, governors, and business executives for the past few weeks.
This individual is using Artificial Intelligence to impersonate Wiles in phone calls, but what has investigators flummoxed is the lack of a cohesive motive outside of a one-time request for a cash transfer.
Investigators were first tipped off about the possibility of an impersonator because of texts from a different number claiming to be Wiles going to lawmakers and White House staffers.
A combination of broken English and bizarre questions that Wiles should have known further cemented the reality that someone was impersonating an extremely important figure in the Trump administration.
In response to a request for comment from the WSJ, the White House issued a statement saying, "The White House takes the cybersecurity of all staff very seriously, and this matter continues to be investigated."
This impersonation episode comes after the FBI issued a warning on “an ongoing malicious text and voice messaging campaign” targeting current or former senior US federal or state government officials and their contacts.
A statement from the FBI explained, "The malicious actors have sent text messages and AI-generated voice messages — techniques known as smishing and vishing, respectively — that claim to come from a senior US official in an effort to establish rapport before gaining access to personal accounts."
FBI Director Kash Patel commented on the Wiles case, saying that the FBI "takes all threats against the president, his staff, and our cybersecurity with the utmost seriousness. Safeguarding our administration officials’ ability to securely communicate to accomplish the president’s mission is a top priority.'
With all of that in mind, the FBI has supposedly determined that whoever is impersonating Wiles is not acting on behalf of a foreign nation.
To add more intrigue to this situation, one text to an unnamed lawmaker asked for a list of people who could be pardoned by President Trump. This points to the possibility that the impersonator is searching for politically damaging information in relation to Trump's use of the pardon power.
Information security has been a top priority for the Trump administration, and Susie Wiles has been one of Trump's chief enforcers in preventing politically damaging leaks and controlling staffers to minimize information getting out of the White House.
Wiles has been the target of cyberattacks previously, as Iranian hackers broke into her devices last year in an effort to damage Trump's presidential campaign.
As the Trump agenda continues to roll out, information security is paramount, and the Trump administration cannot afford more damaging leaks that create unnecessary political drama.
Hopefully, the FBI can find out who is behind this impersonation campaign quickly. However, it will likely take time for Kash Patel and his agents to get to the bottom of this situation.
