Top Trump aide revealed as individual he allegedly showed classified map, report says

Ex-president faces more than 30 charges including violation of the Espionage Act

The identity of an aide to Donald Trump whose voice was heard in an audio recording wherein the former president can be heard brandishing a paper he explicitly claims is classified has been revealed.

Susie Wiles, CEO of the Save America PAC, was the woman identified by multiple sources familiar with the situation as “PAC representative” in the indictment filed by Jack Smith, the Department of Justice’s special counsel. Her identity was first reported on Thursday by ABC News.

Ms Wiles’s identity is significant given her background: she directed the Trump 2016 campaign’s efforts in Florida, which Mr Trump won handily over Hillary Clinton.

Her daughter was actually hired for a White House job in the very earliest days of the Trump administration, only to leave in February 2017 after failing a background check conducted by the FBI. Her mother never joined the administration; instead, she would ironically be part of the reinforcements called in by her boss to help the struggling campaign of Ron DeSantis, then facing a tough matchup against Andrew Gillum in the Florida governor’s race.

That’s important because it verifies that she would not have had any sort of security clearance necessary to view the kind of document Mr Trump was at least claiming to have produced for his guests on the recording obtained by news outlets this week.

The senior Trump aide is currently in charge of the ex-president’s outside spending vessel, the Save America PAC, which has fronted the majority of costs for his ongoing legal defences. Mr Trump remains embroiled in a number of cases beyond the 37-count indictment brought by the Department of Justice over his allegedly illegal retention of classfied materials and other presidential records.

Mr Trump has claimed innocence, but on Thursday it was separately reported by The Independent that the DoJ is considering filing a superceding indictment against the former president which could lead to dozens of new criminal charges.

Ms Wiles has not been charged, and it is not a crime to be shown classified information provided that one has not committed any crimes in order to obtain access. But a spokesperson for the Trump campaign nevertheless accused the DoJ of “attacking” Ms Wiles in a statement to ABC.

"This sham investigation by Joe Biden and his weaponized DOJ are clearly designed to inflict maximum political damage and to prevent President Trump ... from reclaiming the White House,” the spokesperson added.

President Joe Biden has remained adamant that he is not being briefed on the DoJ’s efforts to investigate the former president over a slew of alleged criminal activity, including whether the ex-president committed crimes during his efforts to overturn the 2020 election, and no evidence has emerged to suggest that the White House has become involved indirectly or otherwise in the agency’s years-long probe of January 6 and the former president’s actions.