FBI Investigated NYT Reporter Who Wrote About Kash Patel's Girlfriend Getting an FBI SWAT Escort
FBI Director Kash Patel's bureau opened an investigation into New York Times reporter Elizabeth Williamson — who wrote about Patel giving his country singer girlfriend FBI security and transport — to determine if she broke federal stalking laws. FBI agents interviewed the girlfriend, searched databases for information on the reporter. DOJ officials killed the probe, finding no legal basis and calling it retaliation.
On April 22, 2026, the New York Times reported that the FBI had launched an investigation into one of its own reporters — Elizabeth Williamson — after she published an unflattering article about FBI Director Kash Patel's girlfriend.
The original story
On February 28, Williamson published "Kash Patel's Girlfriend Seeks Fame and Fortune, Escorted by an F.B.I. SWAT Team" — a story about how Patel had ordered the FBI to provide his girlfriend, country singer Alexis Wilkins, with government security and transportation. A SWAT team was escorting Patel's girlfriend as she pursued a music career.
What the FBI did next
After the story ran:
- FBI agents interviewed Alexis Wilkins, who said she had received a threatening email the day the story was published
- Agents searched government databases for information on Williamson — the reporter
- The bureau recommended proceeding with a formal investigation to determine whether Williamson broke federal stalking laws
Federal stalking laws. For writing a news article. About the FBI Director's girlfriend receiving government resources.
How it ended
Alarmed Justice Department officials intervened. They determined:
- There was no legal basis for the investigation
- The inquiry was rooted in retaliation for an article that Patel and his girlfriend didn't like
- The probe was shut down
The Times responds
NYT Executive Editor Joe Kahn:
"A blatant violation of Elizabeth's First Amendment rights and another attempt by this administration to prevent journalists from scrutinizing its actions. It is unconstitutional and wrong."
What this means
The FBI Director used his own agency to investigate a journalist who wrote a critical article about him. Not a national security leak. Not classified information. A story about his girlfriend getting a taxpayer-funded SWAT escort while pursuing a music career.
The mechanism was textbook authoritarian retaliation:
- Journalist publishes embarrassing story
- Subject of story receives threatening email from a third party (unrelated to the reporter)
- FBI treats the threatening email as a pretext to investigate the journalist — not the person who sent the threat
- Agents search government databases for information on the reporter
- Bureau recommends a stalking investigation against a reporter for reporting
The only reason this stopped is that DOJ officials — who are themselves under enormous political pressure — determined there was no legal basis and flagged it as retaliation. If the DOJ officials had been more compliant, or if Patel replaces them with loyalists, the next investigation doesn't get stopped.
This is the same FBI Director who, per The Atlantic's recent 26-source report, is regularly drunk at D.C. clubs, has his security detail struggle to wake him, gets SWAT callouts because he's unreachable behind a locked door, and had a "freak-out" when a login error made him think he'd been fired. He oversees 38,000 employees — and is using the bureau to investigate reporters who write articles his girlfriend doesn't like.
Sources & Evidence
- FBI Launched Investigation Into New York Times Reporter Over Story on Kash Patel's Girlfriend — TheWrap
- Keystone Kash Patel's FBI Goons Target New York Times Reporter Who Angered His Girlfriend — The Daily Beast
- FBI Investigated NY Times Reporter Who Wrote Unflattering Kash Patel Story — Mediaite
- Kash Patel alarmed FBI by snooping on reporter who wrote about his girlfriend — DNYUZ / NYT
- FBI said to have investigated Times reporter after article on Patel's girlfriend — Editor & Publisher