FBI Director Kash Patel has come under fresh scrutiny following claims that an official work trip was used for a high-end evening out with his girlfriend, prompting renewed debate over his use of bureau resources.
According to a report by The New York Times, Patel, 46, travelled aboard the FBI’s Gulfstream V aircraft with his 27-year-old girlfriend, Alexis Wilkins, from Washington to Philadelphia on 10 May 2025 to attend a country music concert before returning the same night.
The pair are said to have watched performances by George Strait and Chris Stapleton from a private hospitality suite reportedly valued at between $35,000 and $50,000. FBI flight staff and security personnel allegedly remained on duty until after 11pm while waiting for Patel and Wilkins to leave the venue, resulting in additional overtime costs.
When approached for comment through an FBI spokesperson, Patel declined to respond directly. The bureau later stated that Wilkins had attended as “an invited guest” of the performers.
The latest allegations add to a series of questions surrounding Patel’s travel arrangements and whether official engagements have increasingly overlapped with personal leisure activities involving his girlfriend.
The controversy follows criticism over Patel’s visit to USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor, where reports described him taking part in what was labelled a “VIP snorkel” excursion near the memorial honouring those killed during the 1941 attack.
Responding to coverage of the trip, FBI spokesman Ben Williamson rejected suggestions the visit had been recreational. In a post on X, he accused the Associated Press of distorting the nature of the engagement.
“The AP is attempting to spin an invitation from the Commanding General of Indo Pacom [US Indo-Pacific Command] to a military base as a party or vacation, which is so stupid,” Williamson wrote.
“The DoW [Department of War] routinely does these engagements with inter-agency partners, to include this one, and when he was Chief of staff for [the Pentagon] in Trump 1, Patel offered the same event for many partners that came to visit,” he added.
Patel’s July 2025 visit to Hawaii also attracted attention. The FBI said the trip included meetings with personnel from the Honolulu Field Office as well as federal and local law enforcement agencies. An agency release stated discussions centred on “crime trends and threats to the homeland”, including violent crime initiatives and ongoing investigations.
The bureau insisted the visit was official in nature, describing it as a “historical tour to honour heroes who died on the USS Arizona, not a party”.
It also said the August visit formed part of “the Director’s public national security engagements last August with counterparts in New Zealand, Australia, our Honolulu Field Office, and the Department of War”.
Despite those explanations, critics argued the optics were damaging. Stacey Young, founder of Justice Connection, a support network for Justice Department employees dismissed during President Donald Trump’s second administration, said the incident reflected a broader pattern.
“It fits a pattern of Director Patel getting tangled up in unseemly distractions, this time at a site commemorating the second-deadliest attack in US history, instead of staying laser-focused on keeping Americans safe,” Young told the Associated Press.
At the same time, the report noted that both the US Navy and the National Park Service have long allowed limited visits and swimming access at the Arizona site for military and government officials, including during the Obama administration.
Deidre Kelley said such visits were uncommon but not unprecedented. “I have not heard of anyone who would object to these visits as they are very rare and there aren’t any survivors of the Arizona left alive,” she said, adding, “Their children might have some objections but I haven’t heard any.”
Patel has also faced attention over a visit to Milan during the Winter Olympics, where footage showed him celebrating with members of the US men’s hockey team and drinking beer. He later said the trip was linked to a cybercrime investigation being conducted alongside Italian authorities.
The FBI chief has repeatedly defended his travel record, maintaining that personal travel costs are paid privately and that each trip serves a legitimate official purpose. He has also accused sections of the media of presenting politically motivated and misleading accounts of his activities while pointing to enforcement achievements during his tenure.
“I’ve taken half as many days off as those before me,” Patel said during a Department of Justice press conference last month. “I’ve taken a third less vacation than those before me.”
“I’m the first one in; I’m the last one out,” he added.
