The operation used pen registers and trap-and-trace data from February to May 2023 to log communications for 21 Trump defense attorneys, 5 journalists, Melania Trump, and Kash Patel. Some FBI field agents reportedly indicated they did not find probable cause for the related Mar-a-Lago raid, although the Department of Justice proceeded with the search. Lisa Monaco later became the global head of affairs at Microsoft.
Wednesday, October 21, 2026
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Lisa Monaco Approved Real Time Monitoring of Trump Defense Lawyers
US Politics15 days ago
Records from a White House transparency task force reveal the former deputy attorney general urged the justice chief to authorize a surveillance probe into Susie Wiles. Declassified memos show Lisa Monaco personally recommended to Attorney General Merrick Garland the approval of "Plasmic Echo," an FBI operation that monitored the phone activity of Trump's then-campaign manager in real time. This enabled former Special Counsel Jack Smith’s team to track communications as they occurred rather than reviewing historical logs. Memos also show that records for a meeting between Smith’s team and former CIA Director John Brennan remained blank.
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