Business

News of alleged insider trading means investigators can’t use wiretaps

The feds are unlikely to be able to conduct wiretaps as part of the insider trading probe into the activities of golfer Phil Mickelson and investor Carl Icahn now that news of the investigation has leaked, sources told The Wall Street Journal.

Probers had been considering using electronic surveillance in their investigation, the Journal reported Sunday. But that plan evaporated once news of the case started to become public, according to WSJ sources.

Wiretapping Icahn could have been an uphill battle, anyway, sources said. He’s part owner of a telecommunications firm that might have been used to conduct the surveillance.

Under pressure to beat the release of news reports, two FBI agents were rushed onto a plane from New York to Ohio on Thursday to catch Mickelson after a tournament golf game to confront him about what he might know, the Journal reported.

But Mickelson just told them to talk to his lawyer.

Both Mickelson and Icahn have denied claims of alleged insider trading.