Kash Patel under fire for providing girlfriend FBI detail

FBI Director Kash Patel faces another round of backlash following reports that his girlfriend receives an elite FBI security detail despite the couple maintaining separate residences.

Driving the news: Country singer Alexis Wilkins, 27, is protected by FBI agents normally assigned to a SWAT team in Nashville, where she spends time for her work, two people claiming direct knowledge told MS Now on Monday. They suggested that SWAT agents on the detail would be unable to respond or delayed in responding to crises in their territory, such as mass shootings or terror attacks. MS Now also noted that people familiar with FBI protocols were unaware of prior cases in which the girlfriend of a top FBI official received a government-staffed security detail.

The FBI subsequently confirmed that Wilkins receives a protective detail as she “has faced hundreds of credible death threats related to her relationship with Director Patel, whom she has been dating for three years.” Those threats have escalated amid conspiracy theories, including false claims she is an Israeli spy, which recently led to lawsuits against three conservative influencers.

Abuse of resources?: Christopher O’Leary, a former senior FBI agent, slammed the arrangement. “There is no legitimate justification for this. This is a clear abuse of position and misuse of government resources,” he told MS Now. “She is not his spouse, does not live in the same house or even the same city.” O’Leary also noted that it comes at a time “when security details were stripped from people who are under threat from IRGC QF,” referring to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and pointing to former national security adviser John Bolton.

Patel, for his part, defended Wilkins earlier this month on social media, calling her “a rock-solid conservative and a country music sensation who has done more for this nation than most will in 10 lifetimes” while dismissing the coverage as attacks on his “personal life.”

The big picture: The revelation follows Patel’s previous use of the bureau’s $60 million government jet to attend a wrestling event in Pennsylvania, where Wilkins sang the national anthem. In a 2023 podcast, he criticized then-FBI Director Christopher Wray’s use of the FBI jet for personal travel, yet he now faces similar scrutiny while providing unprecedented security benefits to a girlfriend who maintains a separate residence. The use of elite SWAT personnel for protective duty also raises operational concerns about emergency response capability in Nashville.

Beyond resource allocation issues, Patel has also faced criticism for firing seasoned FBI leaders without apparent legal basis. These officials, which include former acting director Brian Driscoll, have sued Patel over their firings, claiming illegal termination.