A leak hunt has thrown the White House into turmoil after White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles launched an internal investigation to unmask who exposed security flaws in a Qatari-gifted aircraft intended to serve as the new Air Force One. The aggressive probe, personally overseen by Wiles and FBI Director Kash Patel, saw investigators demanding officials hand over their personal phones right on White House grounds, sources familiar with the matter told CNN. The dramatic crackdown was triggered after Trump had raged over disclosures about the new plane, prompting his administration to rapidly deploy the investigation. The panic has already spread across federal sectors. As the inquiry intensified, at least one federal agency scrambled to email its staff, explicitly warning that if outside agencies contacted them requesting information, that they 'needed to immediately contact their own agency's attorneys,' a source told CNN. Sources revealed that Patel's scheduled trip to Chicago was abruptly aborted on Friday, with the FBI chief diverted back to the White House to take a direct role in spearheading the interrogation.

For roughly seven hours, Patel holed up in an office directly adjacent to Wiles, with the duo establishing what one source referred to as a 'war room' right inside the West Wing. The leakers the administration hopes to find helped fuel the New York Times story that led to the Justice Department issuing subpoenas to four journalists who had previously reported on the security concerns surrounding the new aircraft. Beyond demanding personal cell phones, investigators interrogated staff who had traveled with Trump or played a part in organizing the trip, sweeping up officials from across multiple government agencies.

However, the aggressive tactics met some resistance, as one of the sources told CNN that not all officials who were asked to turn over their devices complied with the request. The State of Qatar donated the high-end jet to the Pentagon last year. However, the staggering $400 million gift immediately sparked intense scrutiny. Critics raised the alarm over potential national security threats, legal roadblocks and ethics violations. The White House ultimately dismissed those concerns.

'Frankly, we couldn't build a plane like this because we wouldn't be willing to spend the kind of money necessary. They spent top dollars,' Trump said of the Qataris. With the Justice Department targeting members of the press, the Pentagon has already rapidly mobilized its own legal artillery to silence government employees. On Monday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that the Pentagon and the DOJ joined forces to launch a joint task force designed specifically to track down and prosecute leakers.

According to Hegseth, the Defense Department's Office of General Counsel will now wield total authority to request and receive information across the entire Pentagon on media leak investigations. 'Leaked information risks lives. These new tools and processes will greatly assist us in protecting our joint force. The security of our nation cannot be a bargaining chip for those who seek momentary headlines,' Hegseth said in a video statement he posted on X. 'Access to confidential and secret information is a sacred trust, and those who betray that trust will be met with the full force of the law,' he said. The White House did not immediately respond to a Daily Mail request for comment.