NYT: FBI probed reporter after Patel girlfriend story

Kash Patel sworn in as FBI director with girlfriend Alexis Wilkins

(Image credit: Mark Schiefelbein / AP Photo)

What happened

The FBI started investigating a journalist with The New York Times last month after she reported in January that FBI Director Kash Patel had assigned an around-the-clock SWAT team to protect and escort his girlfriend, Alexis Wilkins, the Times said Wednesday, citing a person briefed on the matter. FBI agents “recommended moving forward” to determine whether the reporter “broke federal stalking laws,” the Times said, but Justice Department officials shut down the inquiry, viewing it as legally baseless “retaliation” for the article.

Who said what

FBI spokesperson Ben Williamson did not dispute the SWAT detail report. Investigators were “concerned” that the Times journalist’s “aggressive reporting techniques crossed lines of stalking,” he said in a statement Wednesday, but “no further action” was “ever pursued by the FBI.”

Patel “hasn’t been reluctant to fight back against reporting that displeases him,” The Associated Press said. A federal judge in Texas on Wednesday dismissed a defamation suit filed by Patel against former FBI official Frank Figliuzzi for saying last year on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” that “reportedly, he’s been visible at nightclubs far more than” at FBI headquarters.

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What next?

It’s “not clear whether the Times has any recourse other than asking a federal inspector general to review” the FBI’s actions, the AP said.

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.