UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham exchanged messages with a person posing as Susie Wiles, the White House chief of staff and one of U.S. President Donald Trump’s closest advisers, POLITICO reported, citing four officials.
According to the report, Burnham communicated with the individual before suspicions emerged that the contact was not legitimate.
A person familiar with the communications said that “several messages” were exchanged after Burnham entered 10 Downing Street, but insisted that they were not of particular significance.
Downing Street declined to comment on the incident, saying it does not discuss matters of national security.
The incident reportedly also raised concerns at the British Embassy in Washington, which raised the matter with the White House.
Within the British government, there were also concerns that Susie Wiles’ phone may have been hacked again.
Last year, the White House and the FBI launched an investigation after U.S. senators, governors and corporate executives received messages and phone calls from a person impersonating Wiles.
It remains unclear what was discussed in the communications with Burnham or exactly when the messages were sent.
According to POLITICO, the case was deliberately kept out of the public eye because of its sensitive nature.
