FBI Director Kash Patel defended his relationship girlfriend, country music singer Alexis Wilkins, after the pair received online backlash over the weekend.
Patel’s statement followed reports that he used an FBI jet to visit the singer, who sang the national anthem at a wrestling event at Penn State University on Oct. 25.
“The disgustingly baseless attacks against Alexis — a true patriot and the woman I’m proud to call my partner in life — are beyond pathetic,” Patel wrote on X.
“She is a rock-solid conservative and a country music sensation who has done more for this nation than most will in ten lifetimes,” he said. “I’m so blessed she’s in my life.”
Patel added that attacking Wilkins “jeopardizes our safety,” while also criticizing his allies who have kept mum over the controversy.
“To our supposed allies staying silent — your silence is louder than the clickbait haters,” he wrote.
The attacks on Patel and Wilkins began last week after Kyle Seraphin — an ex FBI agent and outspoken Kash critic — drew attention to the FBI chief’s jet logs, which highlighted his trip to see Wilkins perform at the Real American Freestyle (RAF) pro-wrestling event.
“We’re in the middle of a government shutdown where they’re not even gonna pay all of the employees that work for the agency that this guy heads, and this guy is jetting off to hang out with his girlfriend in Nashville on our dime?” Seraphin said on his show.
The conservative podcaster ultimately accused Patel and Wilkins of “grifting off the American public,” sparking outrage against the couple.
The revelations of Patel’s publicly-available jet logs allegedly caused the FBI director to oust Steven Palmer, a 27-year veteran of the FBI, who oversees the bureau’s aviation units, Bloomberg Law reported.
Palmer was reportedly told he needed to resign or be fired, a decision made in-part over Patel’s fury at the reports of his personal travel, individuals with knowledge over the incident told the outlet.
The FBI chief’s spokesman, Ben Williamson, said that all the headlines criticizing Patel were “disingenuous and dumb.”
FBI directors must use government planes to ensure secure travel, with the chiefs ordered to pay reimbursements for personal trips.
Patel had previously slammed former FBI Director Chris Wray for his use of government planes for personal reasons.
