Alexis Wilkins, the girlfriend of FBI Director Kash Patel, has responded to long-running online allegations labelling her a “honeypot”, accusing a New York Times reporter of obsessive reporting into her private life.
In a post on X, Wilkins said she was responding to behind-the-scenes reporting efforts by Elizabeth Williamson, a writer for The New York Times, whom she accused of probing her personal history and contacting people who are now not even part of her life.
“Enough. I know you’re digging in the depths and hunting for information at a disproportionate level,” Wilkins said.
She said online trolls had already spread “volumes of fiction” about her, including claims that she was part of a foreign intelligence plot involving Israel's Mossad.
Wilkins alleged that Williamson had cold-called more than 30 people connected to her past, including a kindergarten music teacher, extended family members by marriage, and acquaintances linked to her late grandfather.
She urged the reporter to look up the newspaper’s ethics standards again, specifically, guidelines discouraging reporters from probing into private lives without clear public interest.
The post comes amid conspiracy theories going viral since mid 2025, with many influencers and podcasters claiming Wilkins was an Israeli spy or had been sent to influence Patel. Wilkins has previously taken legal action over similar claims and has argued that such narratives have placed her at risk.
In her statement, she linked irresponsible reporting to real-world dangers.
Quoting Williamson’s past comments about harassment, Wilkins wrote: “Does our right to free speech protect spreading lies about vulnerable people that result in horrific abuse to those people?”
Wilkins also referenced her own family in addressing the reporter directly. “I genuinely hope your two sons who are roughly my age never have to experience the kind of stalking and harassment that comes from a journalist who decides that someone’s distant personal life is fair game because it doesn’t align with her obvious bias.”
She claimed that the reporting effort may be connected to an investigation into Patel’s leadership of the FBI, including scrutiny of agency travel using private jets, security arrangements involving SWAT teams, or the couple’s relationship.
Wilkins ended her post with a jab at the newspaper itself: “And let’s be honest: no one’s reading The Times for investigative journalism anymore everyone knows it survives mostly on Wordle anyway.”
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