A White House leak investigation has plunged the West Wing into fresh tension after Chief of Staff Susie Wiles opened an internal effort to identify who revealed alleged security vulnerabilities in a Qatari-gifted aircraft slated to become the new Air Force One.
The fast-moving inquiry, led closely by Wiles alongside FBI Director Kash Patel, included investigators asking officials on White House property to turn over their personal phones, according to sources familiar with the matter who spoke to CNN.
The crackdown followed Trump’s anger over reports detailing concerns about the new presidential aircraft, prompting his administration to move quickly to track down the source of the disclosures.
The fallout has already rippled beyond the White House and into other parts of the federal government.
As the probe widened, at least one federal agency hurried to alert employees by email, warning them that if outside agencies sought information, they “needed to immediately contact their own agency’s attorneys,” a source told CNN.
Patel’s planned trip to Chicago was suddenly called off on Friday, sources said, with the FBI director redirected to the White House to take a hands-on role in the questioning.
For about seven hours, Patel worked from an office next to Wiles, where the two effectively set up what one source described as a West Wing “war room” for the leak hunt.
The administration is seeking to identify the people who contributed to a New York Times report that preceded the Justice Department’s decision to issue subpoenas to four journalists who had previously covered security concerns involving the aircraft.
The dramatic crackdown was triggered after Trump had raged over disclosures about the new plane, prompting his administration to rapidly deploy the investigation
The aggressive probe, personally overseen last week by President Donald Trump’s closest confidante, Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, and FBI Director Kash Patel, saw investigators demanding officials hand over their personal phones right on White House grounds, sources familiar with the matter told CNN
Beyond demanding personal cell phones, investigators interrogated staff who had traveled with Trump or played a part in organizing the trip, sweeping up officials from across multiple government agencies.
However, the aggressive tactics met some resistance, as one of the sources told CNN that not all officials who were asked to turn over their devices complied with the request.
The State of Qatar donated the high-end jet to the Pentagon last year. However, the staggering $400 million gift immediately sparked intense scrutiny.
Critics raised the alarm over potential national security threats, legal roadblocks and ethics violations. The White House ultimately dismissed those concerns.
‘Frankly, we couldn’t build a plane like this because we wouldn’t be willing to spend the kind of money necessary. They spent top dollars,’ Trump said of the Qataris.
With the Justice Department targeting members of the press, the Pentagon has already rapidly mobilized its own legal artillery to silence government employees.
On Monday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that the Pentagon and the DOJ joined forces to launch a joint task force designed specifically to track down and prosecute leakers.
According to Hegseth, the Defense Department’s Office of General Counsel will now wield total authority to request and receive information across the entire Pentagon on media leak investigations.
‘Leaked information risks lives. These new tools and processes will greatly assist us in protecting our joint force. The security of our nation cannot be a bargaining chip for those who seek momentary headlines,’ Hegseth said in a video statement he posted on X.
‘Access to confidential and secret information is a sacred trust, and those who betray that trust will be met with the full force of the law,’ he said.
The White House did not immediately respond to a Daily Mail request for comment.
