House Democrat Says FBI Wiretapped His Calls With Virginia State Legislator

Key takeaways

Rep. Suhas Subramanyam of Virginia, a sitting House Democrat, says the DOJ and FBI notified him that a federal judge authorized surveillance of his phone calls with a Virginia state legislator.

The wiretap ran from March 6 to April 5 and was part of a federal corruption probe into Virginia state Senate president pro tempore Louise Lucas, who has denied wrongdoing.

Subramanyam, who serves on the House Oversight Committee, called the timing 'extremely suspicious,' linking it to a Virginia redistricting referendum campaign and the committee's push for AG Pam Bondi to testify on the Epstein investigation.

Subramanyam said he wants to know how the DOJ used the collected information and whether the department was keeping tabs on him because of his Oversight role.

The Justice Department and Lucas' office did not immediately respond to requests for comment, and DOJ has not confirmed or denied his characterizations of how the information was used.

A sitting Democratic congressman says the Justice Department notified him that a federal judge authorized surveillance of his phone calls with a Virginia state legislator, with the intercept running from March 6 to April 5. Rep. Suhas Subramanyam of Virginia disclosed the wiretap Thursday, releasing what he described as a formal notice from the Department of Justice and the FBI. The tap was part of a federal corruption probe into Louise Lucas, the president pro tempore of the Virginia state Senate, who has denied wrongdoing.

The disclosure places a sitting member of Congress among those caught in a DOJ operation originally directed at a state official. A federal judge authorized the tap in early March, per the notice Subramanyam said he received, and the intercept captured some of his calls during that month-long window.

Subramanyam's statement did not read the interception as a bureaucratic byproduct of surveilling Lucas. He cast it as part of a broader pattern, pointing to what he described as the department's politically motivated investigations of multiple state attorneys general and the former FBI director. "Now they admit they have surveilled conversations by a sitting Democratic Congressman," he wrote. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Lucas' office also did not respond.

The congressman drew a direct line between the intercept window and two concurrent political events. The tap ran between March and May, he said, a period he described as the peak of campaigning for a redistricting referendum in Virginia. That same stretch saw the House Oversight Committee pressing Attorney General Pam Bondi to testify on the Epstein investigation. Subramanyam sits on that committee. "The timing of this wiretap and investigation is extremely suspicious," he said in the statement.

What concerns him is the downstream use of the collected material. In a text to Axios, Subramanyam said he wants to know "how they were using the information," and asked whether the department was "keeping tabs on me in any way because I'm on Oversight." The probe's original target was Lucas, but a congressman serving on the committee conducting separate oversight of the attorney general found his own calls in the intercept. The department has not confirmed or denied any of Subramanyam's characterizations of how the information was used.

Frequently asked

Who was the original target of the wiretap?

The probe's original target was Louise Lucas, the president pro tempore of the Virginia state Senate, who was under a federal corruption investigation and has denied wrongdoing.

How was Subramanyam caught up in the surveillance?

His calls were captured because the intercept covered his phone conversations with the Virginia state legislator under investigation, placing a sitting member of Congress within an operation originally directed at a state official.

When did the wiretap take place?

According to the notice Subramanyam said he received, a federal judge authorized the tap in early March and it captured some of his calls during a month-long window from March 6 to April 5.

Why does Subramanyam consider the timing suspicious?

He said the intercept coincided with the peak of campaigning for a Virginia redistricting referendum and with the House Oversight Committee, on which he sits, pressing Attorney General Pam Bondi to testify on the Epstein investigation.

Has the Justice Department responded to his claims?

The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment and has not confirmed or denied Subramanyam's characterizations of how the collected information was used.

House Democrat Says FBI Wiretapped His Calls With Virginia State Legislator

Key takeaways

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