FBI Director Kash Patel allegedly erupted in anger when a SWAT team he had assigned to protect his girlfriend left an event before she finished performing the national anthem at a National Rifle Association (NRA) convention.
The 45-year-old bureau head had dispatched an entire SWAT team from the FBI’s Atlanta field office to shadow his 27-year-old girlfriend, Alexis Wilkins, at the NRA’s annual conference in April, according to The New York Times.
When the agents arrived at the Georgia World Congress Center and determined the venue was secure with no apparent danger to Wilkins, they departed before the event concluded.
Upon learning what transpired, Patel reportedly “ripped” into the team’s commander for leaving his girlfriend without protection.
He criticized the agents’ departure as a “failure of the chain of command.”
This incident was not an isolated case of Patel using his authority to provide his aspiring country singer girlfriend with additional security.
He has also deployed “elite FBI agents” who typically work with the Nashville office’s SWAT team to monitor her in her home city.
Bureau officials revealed that agents from the tactical division in Salt Lake City, Utah were ordered to provide protective detail to Wilkins at a September event.
This assignment came despite the agents having just worked extended hours following the nearby assassination of Charlie Kirk.
The extensive and unusually frequent taxpayer-funded SWAT security for Wilkins is “highly unusual,” according to current and former FBI officials.
They noted that girlfriends and spouses of officials typically do not receive that level of protection.
Christopher O’Leary, a former Marine and FBI agent who led a team conducting “high-risk missions,” stating: “The assignment of SWAT-qualified agents to guard his girlfriend are indicative of his lack of leadership experience, judgment and humility.”
Some officials have argued that Wilkins does not face threats warranting this amount of attention. They expressed concern that agents assigned to protect the singer could be prevented from responding to more serious potential crimes.
In multiple instances, agents received little notice before being dispatched to protect Wilkins, The Times reports.
Agents assigned to protect the country singer told the outlet they were uncertain whether they would receive protection against civil liability, similar to what other federal agents who might use deadly force as part of their official duties receive.
“There is no legitimate justification for this. This is a clear abuse of position and misuse of government resources,” former senior FBI agent Christopher O’Leary told MS Now earlier this month. “She is not his spouse, does not live in the same house or even the same city.”
Helen Wray, wife of former FBI Director Christopher Wray, noted she only received a security detail when traveling with her husband.
To defend her boyfriend’s actions, Wilkins has publicized threats she has received online, sharing screenshots on X which she described as just “a morning in my DMs.”
The comments include an Instagram response stating: “you should pray to christ and end your life! You’re better off in his hands than on this earth.”
Another message read: “You need to touch a bullet.”
A third stated: “Someone needs to kidnap her.”
Patel is facing criticism from members of his own party. Grace Chong, an influencer who works for Trump ally Steve Bannon, questioned on X: “Is she considered Kash’s spouse? Is that why she’s getting protection because if not, then why are we paying for this?”
