New reporting sheds light on why the daughter of President Donald Trump's chief of staff turned up in a pro-Russian Balkan enclave.
Katie Wiles, daughter of White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, traveled to Republika Srpska in August alongside John V. Calce, a Texas energy executive who was exploring a gas pipeline partnership with the territory's government, The New York Times reported Thursday. Donald Trump Jr. owns a minority stake in another company Calce runs, America First Refining, according to The Times.
Wiles' trip first drew scrutiny last week after CBS News verified a photo of her holding a rifle at a shooting range next to Zeljko Budimir, the region's interior minister and a member of strongman Milorad Dodik's pro-Russian party. She captioned the image "mostly work + some serious fun!"
Wiles is a partner at Continental Strategy, a Washington lobbying firm with deep Trump ties that the Srpska government began paying $35,000 a month in February, according to Justice Department filings cited by The Times. The firm arranged Calce's visit at the government's request, three people familiar with the arrangement told The Times. The pipeline would carry natural gas from Croatia into the Western Balkans, the government said.
Continental said the August trip involved "strategic communications support" for a U.S. company and that Wiles does not lobby the federal government for any clients. The firm "meticulously complies with every ethical and legal requirement," spokeswoman Melissa Stone said.
A White House official and Continental both said Katie Wiles played no role in a September White House meeting between her mother and a top Srpska official. That meeting was set up by another Continental partner, Alex Garcia. The White House and Continental sources added that she doesn't discuss her business with her mother.
Calce's ties to Trumpworld run deeper. Trump endorsed America First Refining's plan for a new refinery in Brownsville, Texas, in a March social media post, and the company and a predecessor have paid Continental $750,000 to lobby the White House and Energy Department, lobbying records show.
Neither Calce nor Katie Wiles responded to The Times' requests for comment, and it remains unclear whether the pipeline project is still being pursued. A spokesman for Trump Jr. also did not respond.