AI voice clone impersonates Trump White House chief of staff in targeting Republican officials
Attackers used AI voice cloning to impersonate White House chief of staff Susie Wiles in fraudulent messages and calls targeting Republican senators, governors and business leaders in May 2025. The attacker hacked Wiles' personal phone, compromised her contacts, and some officials unknowingly provided information before detecting the fraud. The FBI is investigating the attack.
What happened
Over several weeks in May 2025, Republican senators, governors, business executives and other senior U.S. officials received messages and phone calls from someone claiming to be Susie Wiles, White House chief of staff. The perpetrator used artificial intelligence to replicate Wiles' voice.
An attacker hacked Wiles' personal mobile phone and gained access to contacts of influential Republican figures. Recipients initially believed the messages were from Wiles, who was unaware of the impersonation. Some recipients unknowingly provided requested information to the imposter, though in one case money was solicited.
Reported impact
Multiple Republican officials were targeted with fraudulent requests. Most recipients noticed something was amiss due to grammatical errors and unusually formal language inconsistent with Wiles' normal communication style, and realized they had been contacted by an attacker relatively quickly. Some officials unintentionally provided information to the imposter despite recognizing the compromise.
Governance controls
The FBI opened an investigation into the impersonation campaign. FBI director Kash Patel stated the agency found no reason to believe a foreign state was behind the attack, and a White House spokeswoman said the administration takes the cybersecurity of all personnel very seriously.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.