PoliticsFBI Investigated Reporter Who Wrote About Kash Patel's Girlfriend
The FBI's investigation of a 'NYT' story about perks given to Kash Patel's girlfriend was blasted for criminalizing routine reporting.
April 24 2026, Published 7:05 p.m. ET
In what critics are blasting as a chilling attack on the First Amendment, the FBI investigated New York Times reporter Elizabeth Williamson after she published a February 28 article detailing how embattled FBI Director Kash Patel used taxpayer-funded bureau resources, including a SWAT team, to provide security and transportation for his country singer girlfriend, Alexis Wilkins.
According to Times reporter Michael S. Schmidt, who is also MS NOW host Nicolle Wallace's husband, agents queried internal databases for information on Williamson. They recommended investigating her for potential violations of federal stalking laws, according to a person briefed on the matter, which some Justice Department officials viewed as retaliation for the reporting.
The FBI claimed it was looking into "aggressive reporting techniques" that "crossed lines of stalking" after Wilkins reported receiving a death threat following the article's publication.
The FBI investigated a reporter who wrote about Kash Patel.
The FBI stated that despite initial scrutiny, "no further action regarding Williamson or the reporting was ever pursued.”
New York Times Executive Editor Joseph Kahn condemned the move as "a blatant violation of Elizabeth's First Amendment rights" and an attempt to "criminalize routine reporting.”
Kahn said, “It’s alarming. It’s unconstitutional. And it’s wrong.”
Williamson's story reported that Patel assigned federal agents to protect Wilkins.
Williamson's story reported that Patel assigned federal agents to protect Wilkins, which included escorting her to concerts and a hair appointment.
While reporting, Williamson had off-the-record conversations with Wilkins, but was never in her presence, the Times stated.
Patel described the Times report as a "baseless story" that led to a death threat against his girlfriend, asserting that the investigation was necessary to protect his loved ones.
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The author stands by her work.
This incident followed other reports regarding Patel's use of an FBI plane for booze-soaked personal trips and allegations of mismanagement, which Patel has strongly denied and for which he has filed a $250 million lawsuit against The Atlantic and the article’s author, Sara Fitzpatrick.
Fitzpatrick said she interviewed "more than two dozen people" about Patel's conduct, which included "current and former FBI officials, staff at law enforcement and intelligence agencies, hospitality-industry workers, members of Congress, political operatives, lobbyists, and former advisers."
The author stands by her work, telling MS NOW, “I stand by every word of this reporting. We have excellent attorneys.”
Patel blasted his predecessor for unfounded claims that he had done just that.
Despite helping himself to taxpayer-funded government perks, Patel blasted his predecessor for unfounded claims that he had done just that.
"I'm just saying Chris Wray doesn't need a government-funded G5 jet to go to vacation. Maybe we ground that plane – 15,000 every time it takes off. Just a thought," Patel said in 2023.
