Officials in the Trump White House have been asked to turn over their phones as part of the investigation into a leak about Air Force One security while the President was traveling in the Middle East last week.
As The Gateway Pundit previously reported, Trump announced that the Air Force One jet he flew to Ankara, Turkey, for the NATO summit last week would be visiting a US base in the UK. He went on to fly on a different Air Force One plane when departing from Turkey on Wednesday night, prompting speculation of security concerns.
Trump had told reporters numerous times during the NATO summit that Iran is plotting to assassinate him and that he’s “number one” on their kill list, but he shrugged off security concerns when asked if that’s the reason why the new Air Force One plane was rerouted.
After flying out of Turkey and across the Middle East on the old jet, Trump boarded his newer luxury plane, donated to the US by Qatar, at Mildenhall Air Force Base in the UK. Trump was then pressed again about security concerns and why reporters had been directed to keep their window shades down while flying from Turkey to the UK, and he hilariously said, “I’m number one on their list before you, but if I go, you go.”
The President continued, “So, perhaps someday you want to change professions.”
WATCH:
It was later revealed that federal agents served subpoenas to four New York Times reporters after the paper published sensitive details about alleged security shortcomings on the plane. Leakers with knowledge of the sensitive national security matters told the Times reporters that the new plane lacked some of the advanced defensive systems installed on the other presidential aircraft.
The reporters were subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury amid the ongoing investigation into the unauthorized disclosure of sensitive government information and violations of federal law, The Gateway Pundit reported.
Additionally, White House officials have come under scrutiny, with some being asked to provide their phones to investigators at the direction of White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and FBI Director Kash Patel, CNN reports.
Patel and Wiles were reportedly in the West Wing of the White House for roughly seven hours on Friday after Patel was diverted from traveling to Chicago. One source said they were establishing a “war room.”
According to the report, “As the investigation unfolded, at least one federal agency emailed employees warning that if they were contacted by outside agencies requesting information and devices, they needed to immediately contact their own agency’s attorneys, one source told CNN.”
The report further notes that investigators are also seeking information from officials who traveled to Turkey with the President or had a role in the trip, but not all officials have complied with the request to turn over their devices.
This is a developing story.
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