First Amendment

The FBI's Alleged Probe of a Reporter for 'Stalking' Breaks New Ground in Criminalizing Journalism

The bureau reportedly investigated the author of a New York Times story that made FBI Director Kash Patel look bad.

Jacob Sullum | 4.23.2026 5:55 PM

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(Paul Brady/Dreamstime/The New York Times/Wikimedia Commons)

In February, The New York Times reported that FBI Director Kash Patel had assigned rotating SWAT teams to guard his girlfriend, country music singer Alexis Wilkins, as she traveled around the country. The article portrayed that use of FBI resources as highly unusual and ethically questionable. "If you want to be a celebrity or a social media star, get your own security," a former FBI official told the newspaper. "The inappropriateness of this cannot be overstated."

The story was undeniably embarrassing for Patel and Wilkins. In Wilkins' view, it also was evidence of "stalking," a federal felony punishable by up to five years in prison. According to "a person briefed on the matter," the Times reported on Wednesday, that highly dubious claim prompted an FBI investigation of Times reporter Elizabeth Williamson, who wrote the offending story. If that account is accurate, it represents an extraordinary attempt to criminalize standard journalism.

Such an investigation would be consistent with Patel's attitude toward "the mainstream media," which he has described as "the most powerful enemy that the United States has ever seen." It also would be consistent with Patel's threat to "come after the people in the media" who "helped Joe Biden rig presidential elections." But it plainly would not be consistent with the First Amendment, which guarantees freedom of the press.

According to the anonymous source cited by the Times, FBI agents interviewed Wilkins, "queried databases for information"........

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