FBI Director Kash Patel is facing mounting criticism after the bureau deployed a specialised security team to protect his girlfriend, Alexis Wilkins. The decision has triggered concerns within the agency and beyond, with officials questioning whether such protection for a non-spouse is an appropriate use of federal resources.
The FBI confirmed on Monday that it has assigned a security team to protect country singer Alexis Wilkins, who is the longtime girlfriend of FBI Director Kash Patel. The bureau says Wilkins received hundreds of death threats because of her relationship with Patel.
“Ms. Wilkins is receiving a protective detail because she has faced hundreds of credible death threats related to her relationship with Director Patel, whom she has been dating for three years. Out of respect for her safety, we will not be providing additional details,” an FBI spokesperson told NBC News.
Reports say that Wilkins is being protected by top FBI agents who normally work on a SWAT team at the Bureau’s Nashville field office. She spends a lot of her time in Nashville because of her music career. These agents usually handle dangerous emergencies like possible mass shootings and terror threats, and their deployment has raised questions within the FBI about whether this is the right use of resources.
Unusual move raises eyebrows within the FBI
Current and former officials told MS NOW that they cannot recall any instance where a girlfriend or boyfriend of a senior FBI official received a government-staffed security detail. In the past, only the spouses of FBI directors have occasionally had protection and even then, only when they were travelling together or living in the same home.
“There is no legitimate justification for this. This is a clear abuse of position and misuse of government resources. She is not his spouse, does not live in the same house or even the same city,” Christopher O’Leary, a former senior FBI agent and MS NOW law enforcement contributor said.
Patel and Wilkins have been together since 2023 but do not live together. Patel still has his legal residence in Las Vegas and travels often to Washington for work. Wilkins divides her time between Nashville and her touring commitments. She was also present when Patel was sworn in as FBI director earlier this year.
Patel already facing questions over resource use
This comes at a time when Patel is already facing criticism for how he uses FBI resources. Last month, former FBI agent and conservative podcaster Kyle Seraphin accused Patel of using the FBI’s $60 million government jet to watch Wilkins sing the national anthem at a wrestling event at Penn State on October 25. Critics called the trip a date night paid for by taxpayers.
Patel strongly denied the claim, calling the allegations disgustingly baseless and politically motivated. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), he said: “We will not be distracted by baseless rumours or the noise from uninformed internet anarchists and the fake news. Criticize me all you want. But going after my personal life or those around me is a total disgrace.” He also said he was disappointed that some of his own allies stayed silent while the accusations spread.
Wilkins files $5 million defamation suits
Meanwhile, Alexis Wilkins is taking legal action of her own. She has filed multiple $5 million defamation lawsuits against MAGA influencers – including Seraphin, Sam Parker and Elijah Schaffer – accusing them of spreading conspiracy theories that she is a Mossad honeypot agent sent to trap Patel.
MAGA supporters began distancing themselves from Patel after he changed his earlier stance on the Epstein case and said that Epstein killed himself.