FBI Director Kash Patel embarked on a bizarre MAGA monologue after denying a claim he used the bureau to investigate a journalist who wrote about his girlfriend.
Patel, 46, and aspiring country singer Alexis Wilkins, 27, have been dating for three years. Wilkins now receives around-the-clock protective detail from SWAT and FBI field officers around the nation, according to an article published by The New York Times in February.
After the story ran, the FBI searched databases for information on the journalist who wrote the piece, Elizabeth Williamson, the Times reported on Wednesday.
Patel denied the claim during a softball interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity.
“I’m reading that they’re going after you, that you used the FBI because you didn’t like a story about your girlfriend... is there any truth to that? Because I’ve known you a long time, it just doesn’t sound like you,” Hannity asked reluctantly.
Patel told Hannity, “Absolutely not,” before adding a personal, “Thanks, Sean.”
The FBI director then went on a more than minute-long monologue, which covered the report, President Trump, and even the Biden administration
“This same reporter delivered a baseless story which caused a direct threat-of-life to my girlfriend,” Patel said.
Alden Welch Ruml, 26, of Massachusetts, was arrested in March after authorities said he sent Wilkins an email saying he would be “happy” when her face is “canoed by an assault rifle." He pleaded not guilty last month and faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison if convicted.
Patel told Hannity he directly blamed the Times story. “We are going to protect not only me and my loved ones but every American that is threatened.”
The FBI director then criticized the Times’ reporting, including suggesting the outlet “refused to accept our comments and refused to turn the attention to the actual court pleadings, and the myriad of threats that have resulted to me and mine based on this baseless reporting.”
Before barely drawing a breath, he quickly embarked on a MAGA monologue, telling Hannity, “But here’s the thing, me and mine are like you and President Trump, we’re as tough as they come. We aren’t going to stand down. We aren’t going to take a knee on this one, or anything. America elected President Trump to safeguard our communities, and you’ve seen what we’ve done.”
Patel then rattled off his apparent track record since becoming director of the FBI before taking a jab at the Biden administration.
He finished his word salad by blaming the media for its reporting and for being “too busy bankrolling the SPLC and getting into bed with them.” Patel launched an investigation into the Southern Poverty Law Center this week while avoiding questions on a defamation lawsuit against the Atlantic.
The Daily Beast has contacted The New York Times and the FBI for comment.
Earlier Wednesday, the Times defended its reporting. Executive editor Joseph Kahn said, “The F.B.I.’s attempt to criminalize routine reporting is a blatant violation of Elizabeth’s First Amendment rights and another attempt by this administration to prevent journalists from scrutinizing its actions.
He added, “It’s alarming. It’s unconstitutional. And it’s wrong.”
The Times reported that several days after their initial story, Wilkins was interviewed by the FBI, and told them she was unnerved by the article.
Williamson had spoken to the singer prior to publication of the story, and wanted their interview to remain off-the-record. They exchanged emails before the story went out.
The FBI began a preliminary investigation into the journalist to determine if she had broken federal stalking laws, a source told the Times. However, the DOJ determined there was no legal basis to proceed with the investigation.
An FBI spokesperson told the Times that it was “false” that the bureau had investigated Williamson. They told the publication that inquiries made about the journalist related to Wilkins receiving a threatening email from an anonymous sender after the Times article was published.
“Ms. Wilkins was interviewed by FBI agents in relation to a death threat in Boston, which specifically referenced an article published by Williamson the previous day,” the spokesman told the Times.
“During this questioning, the agents inquired about the related reporting. While investigators were concerned about how the aggressive reporting techniques crossed lines of stalking, no further action regarding Williamson or the reporting was ever pursued by the FBI.”
FBI spokesman Ben Williamson told the Daily Beast last month that Wilkins has been given protection due to the “hundreds of credible violent death threats” made against her.
“Ms. Wilkins receives a standard protective detail because as a direct result of her relationship with Director Patel, she is facing active death threats, including graphic threats to rape, murder, and violence including ‘slit her throat’—many of which are publicly available information,” Williamson said.
He also blamed the media for waging an “ongoing campaign against her” that has led to event cancellations and “escalated both risks and threats” to the couple.
The Times report from February said that Wilkins’ security detail have not only accompanied her to musical appearances, but also a hair appointment.
