Trump’s Inner Circle Fractures as Former Chief of Staff Cooperates With Federal Investigators

WASHINGTON — The legal and political pressure surrounding President Donald Trump intensified sharply this week after his former White House chief of staff, Susie Wilds, began cooperating with federal investigators, according to people familiar with the matter. Her decision marks one of the most significant breaks yet from Trump’s inner circle and signals a widening inquiry into alleged corruption, ethics breaches and interference inside his administration.

Wilds, who resigned abruptly on February 2, 2026, after citing “irreconcilable ethical differences,” has since met with investigators from the Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General. In those meetings, she has provided documents, testimony and internal accounts of decision-making at the highest levels of the Trump White House, the sources said. Prosecutors have granted her immunity, a step typically reserved for witnesses whose cooperation is deemed essential to larger investigations.

For Trump, the development is particularly damaging. As chief of staff for 13 months during his second term, Wilds was not only a senior aide but the administration’s central gatekeeper — controlling access to the Oval Office, overseeing staff operations and sitting in on nearly every consequential meeting. Few figures had greater exposure to Trump’s private conversations, internal deliberations or operational decisions.

Publicly, Wilds has sought to strike a careful balance. In interviews with Vanity Fair conducted shortly before her resignation, she described Trump as driven by opportunity rather than obsession when it came to retribution, while also characterizing him as possessing what she called an “alcoholic’s personality” — compulsive, relentless and convinced that limits do not apply. She later criticized the article as a “disingenuously framed hit piece,” accusing it of ignoring context to portray the administration as chaotic.

Privately, however, investigators appear to view her cooperation as a breakthrough.

According to people briefed on the inquiry, one central focus is an alleged bribery scheme involving Tom Holman, a senior official overseeing immigration enforcement. Investigators are examining claims that Holman accepted $50,000 in cash during a meeting at a Washington restaurant in exchange for using his position to steer Immigration and Customs Enforcement contracts. The allegation, if substantiated, would constitute a serious federal crime.

Wilds, the sources said, was aware of the allegation while serving as chief of staff and raised concerns internally, urging that it be investigated through proper ethics channels. Instead, the inquiry was allegedly curtailed. Investigators are now examining whether that decision amounted to improper interference — and whether Trump loyalists played a role in shutting it down.

The scope of the investigation extends beyond immigration enforcement. Federal officials are also scrutinizing how the Trump administration handled the release of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced financier whose network of associates has long drawn public and prosecutorial interest. Questions persist about why certain materials were released while others were redacted or withheld, and whether those decisions were influenced by political considerations rather than legal standards.

Wilds is believed to possess detailed knowledge of how those determinations were made, including discussions involving senior Justice Department officials. Her testimony could prove critical in assessing whether ethical or legal boundaries were crossed.

Investigators are also examining what Wilds reportedly described as “reversals” — cases and probes that appeared to move forward only to be abruptly dropped or slowed without clear explanation. One example cited by people familiar with her cooperation involves investigations tied to New York City Mayor Eric Adams, which were allegedly scaled back despite unresolved questions. Prosecutors are seeking to determine whether such decisions reflected legitimate discretion or political pressure.

The granting of immunity to Wilds underscores the seriousness of the inquiry. Prosecutors typically offer such protection when a witness may have exposure to legal risk but is willing to provide evidence against more senior figures. In this case, officials appear to have concluded that Wilds’s firsthand account of White House operations outweighs the value of pursuing charges against her.

Her cooperation makes her at least the eighth senior Trump administration official to assist federal investigators after leaving office, according to people tracking the probes. Several federal prosecutors have also resigned from matters connected to Trump in recent months, citing concerns about interference — and some of them are now involved in the investigations unfolding.

Legal experts say the implications are profound. A former chief of staff can testify not only about what policies were adopted, but why — and who ordered what. She can authenticate documents, recount conversations and directly challenge defenses that rely on claims of ignorance or distance from misconduct.

For Trump, already facing sagging approval ratings, donor unease and mounting legal battles, the loss of a trusted gatekeeper could prove pivotal. Cooperation from someone who “saw too much,” as one Republican strategist put it, threatens to transform diffuse allegations into a coherent narrative backed by insider testimony.

Whether charges ultimately follow remains uncertain. But one reality is now clear: the walls around Trump’s inner circle are no longer holding. And as prosecutors piece together accounts from those once closest to power, the political and legal consequences may only be beginning.