Bernheim exchanges messages with individual impersonating a senior White House official

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham exchanged messages with an individual impersonating White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, according to several media outlets on Monday.

According to Politico, which reported the story citing anonymous sources, Burnham sent “a few messages” through an unspecified communication channel to someone he believed to be Wiles before suspicions arose.

The site, citing two sources, reported that the British Embassy in Washington deemed the incident serious enough to raise with the White House.

A spokesperson for Burnham’s office said, “We do not comment on matters related to national security,” without denying the communications.

In 2024, the British government released a video of a phone call in which then-Foreign Secretary David Cameron was deceived by someone impersonating former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.