What to Know
FBI Director Kash Patel has come under fire for seemingly feeling entitled to a pretty excessive use of taxpayer-funded resources. In addition to using a government jet to get to a golf trip and his girlfriend’s performance at a wrestling event in Pennsylvania, recent reports indicate that he’s using SWAT team security to protect his girlfriend.
Patel and his girlfriend, country singer Alexis Wilkins, have been dating since at least 2023. Their relationship has already gotten a decent amount of attention due to their age gap (Patel is 45 and Wilkins recently turned 27). Patel’s “highly unusual” use of taxpayer-funded security protections has just added to the drama, according to reports from the New York Times and MS NOW.
Apparently, he was angry that security left before his girlfriend’s event ended.
Both reports have made it clear that the level of security that Patel has requested for his girlfriend is not the norm. The New York Times reported that in the spring, Wilkins sang “The Star-Spangled Banner” at a National Rifle Association conference. While she was there, a SWAT team was meant to protect her, as requested by her FBI Director boyfriend. But the agents reportedly left the event early because they didn’t think Wilkins needed that level of protection, making Patel angry.
According to the publication, asking SWAT agents to look after your girlfriend is “highly unusual.”
MS NOW also reported that “people familiar with FBI security protocols” could not think of any other time in which FBI officials used this level of security for people they were dating.
But, per the news outlet, this is how the FBI has explained the situation: “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.”
People find it problematic for a variety of reasons.
The FBI security detail that is being used to protect Patel’s girlfriend has sparked concerns about safety. Per MS NOW, “SWAT team agents on a detail with Wilkins would presumably be unable to respond or delayed in responding to crises that might develop in their territory, such as mass shootings or terror attacks.”
Additionally, many critics on social media have called Patel out for being “corrupt” and hypocritical.
On Reddit, one person described the security detail drama as “just plain ol’ Taxpayer-money-wasting grift.” Another person wrote, “A SWAT team for a girlfriend seems a bit over the top and an excessive use of resources.”
Former agents have also criticized Patel over this. Former Marine and FBI agent Christopher O’Leary told the New York Times that Patel’s “abusive and excessive use of the GV Jet for his personal adventures and the assignment of SWAT-qualified special agents to guard his girlfriend are indicative of his lack of leadership experience, judgment and humility.”
It’s not the first time that people have questioned Patel’s use of taxpayer-funded resources.
In the past, when people criticized him for using a government jet to fly to his girlfriend’s show, he took to X to complain about “clickbait haters,” “fake news,” and “baseless rumors.”
In the post, he largely focused on defending his girlfriend, whom he described as “a true patriot” and “a country music sensation.” He wrote, “The disgustingly baseless attacks against Alexis — a true patriot and the woman I’m proud to call my partner in life — are beyond pathetic. She is a rock-solid conservative and a country music sensation who has done more for this nation than most will in ten lifetimes. I’m so blessed she’s in my life. Attacking her isn’t just wrong — it’s cowardly and jeopardizes our safety.”
