White House officials and FBI director oversee leak investigation into Qatari-gifted aircraft
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White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and FBI Director Kash Patel directed a probe into a leak about security flaws in a Qatar-donated plane, requesting cell phones from several officials on the White House campus.
White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and FBI Director Kash Patel led a leak investigation last week after reports that details of security deficiencies in a Qatar-gifted aircraft, intended for use as Air Force One, were disclosed. Sources said the probe involved asking some government officials to surrender their cell phones to investigators on White House grounds.
Patel, who had been scheduled to travel to Chicago, was redirected to the White House on Friday and spent about seven hours in an office adjacent to Wiles’ to coordinate the effort, which was described by a source as a “war room” in the West Wing. The inquiry also sought information from individuals who traveled with President Donald Trump or were involved in the trip, across multiple agencies. Not all officials complied with the request for devices, according to the source.
The investigation coincided with the Justice Department’s issuance of subpoenas to four journalists from The New York Times who reported on the aircraft’s security concerns, a move that the newspaper said it will contest in court. Advocates for press freedom have criticized the subpoenas as a potential violation of the First Amendment.
The aircraft, a $400 million Qatar-gifted jet, became a focal point after Trump announced it would be sent ahead to England’s Mildenhall Air Force Base before his departure from a NATO summit in Turkey. Trump later said the early deployment was intended to give service members stationed at the base a chance to tour the plane, and he denied that security considerations prompted the change.
Sources familiar with the matter said that after Trump’s trip to Turkey, a security assessment was revised, and Wiles briefed the president that he would need to return on an older, more secure aircraft. Military and Secret Service officials had previously described the Qatar-donated 747 as having been “rushed” into service, while newer jets acquired under a separate deal are not expected to be operational until at least 2028 due to extensive classification, defensive systems, and pilot training requirements.