All Eyes on the Trump Family: Biden's FBI Tracked Melania and Barron's Movements — As Bombshell Emails Show Steps Taken in Secret Probe
Members of Donald Trump's family were surveilled ahead of the 2022 FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago, new documents reveal.
Oct. 5 2026, Published 7:20 p.m. ET
The FBI under Joe Biden’s administration allegedly monitored Melania and Barron Trump’s travel movements and tapped into future White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles’ cellphone data to help pinpoint the timing of its Mar-a-Lago search for classified and national security documents that Donald Trump was suspected of improperly keeping, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
The armed feds executed their search on August 8, 2022, at the Palm Beach, Florida, mansion, and the Trump administration has now released a trove of documents related to Operation Plasmic Echo, which revealed bombshell information about the surveillance of Melania and Barron.
'Donald Trump’s Legal Defense Team, Journalists And Campaign Advisers' Were Monitored
Investigator Jack Smilth's FBI team threw a wide surveillance net around President Trump and his associates, according to new documents.
"Already in the crosshairs for spying on Congress, ex-prosecutor Jack Smith and his team monitored the activities of President Donald Trump’s legal defense team, journalists, and campaign advisers using a pen register device that tracked the calls coming to and from his chief of staff Susie Wiles’ phone, according to newly declassified memos that reveal some of the FBI’s invasive tactics used to target Trump," the White House announced in a statement upon the documents' drop on Monday, October 5.
The latest memos, released by the White House Government Transparency Task Force, claim FBI agents assigned to Smith’s investigation cast a sweeping surveillance net during the 2024 election, combing through phone records, social media activity, political endorsements, and other constitutionally protected conduct as investigators probed whether Trump broke the law by taking classified documents to Mar-a-Lago after leaving office in 2021.
Trump Probe 'Approved At The Highest Levels of the Biden Justice Department'
Biden's Attorney General, Merrick Garland, approved of the FBI operation against the Trumps.
The White House noted that the three-year probe "was approved at the highest levels of the Biden Justice Department, including by Attorney General Merrick Garland, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco and FBI Director Christopher Wray, the memos show."
It noted that the operation "put Joe Biden’s administration in charge of the legal fate of his GOP rival in the 2024 election," referring to what ultimately became Vice President Kamala Harris's unsuccessful run against The Don after Biden was forced to drop out over questions about his mental acuity.
Melania and Barron Trump's Movements Were Surveilled by Biden's FBI
Barron and Melania Trump's movements were surveilled by the FBI before the Mar-a-Lago raid in 2022.
A newly surfaced May 2022 email exchange between redacted FBI agents reveals investigators were meticulously mapping out the Trump family’s movements as they prepared to escalate the Mar-a-Lago documents probe.
The agents' checklist included putting the finishing touches on a search warrant, coordinating with federal prosecutors in Florida, and determining exactly how Donald, Melania, and Barron were traveling, down to the type of aircraft and specific timeline. The final marching orders were to “swear out the warrant” and lock down coordination between the FBI, Justice Department, and Secret Service in West Palm Beach.
Another document read, “Any search warrants would be served after the former President departs Mar-a-Lago,” making sure the home was clear of the Trumps before it was executed.
Then-Trump Campaign Manager Susie Wiles Had Her Phone Data Tapped
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Donald Trump's calls with Susie Wiles were logged by Biden's FBI.
But a month before agents descended on Mar-a-Lago, an unnamed FBI special agent reportedly pumped the brakes, questioning whether the bureau even had the legal authority to search the former president’s private office and bedroom and urging further talks with Trump’s attorneys before taking the extraordinary step.
When agents carried out the raid, both Donald and Melania's bedrooms were tossed looking for evidence, along with the 45th president's office.
The FBI’s alleged surveillance sweep went all the way to Donald himself, with agents painstakingly logging his calls with then-campaign manager Wiles, even flagging the former president’s mysterious "vanity number," a customized phone number that spells out a memorable word.
While the records keep Trump’s personalized digits under wraps, they tracked his calls down to the second. One May 19, 2023, entry coldly clocked: "2:05 pm The FPOTUS Vanity Number called WILES for 16 minutes and 11 seconds."
"Jack Smith’s surveillance operation was a disgraceful abuse of government power," White House spokesperson Lauren Bis said in a statement about the newly released documents.
She added, "Spying on political opponents is weaponization of law enforcement, plain and simple. Those responsible must be held accountable."
