The internet was mocking Alexis Wilkins, FBI Director Kash Patel's girlfriend, after she filed a defamation lawsuit against MS NOW and claimed the organization's reporting "damaged" her reputation over reports that she used FBI resources through her boyfriend for her personal advantage.
In the lawsuit filed Friday, Wilkins cited a December story that included anonymous sources claiming that Patel told FBI agents to take Wilkins's drunk friend home after a night of partying in Nashville.
"As a country singer, author, and political advocate, known for her Christian, patriotic, America-First, and pro-law enforcement values, her brand and ability to work in her profession would be significantly damaged if her employers, her publishers, her listeners, or her readers, believed that she was abusing the public trust and using her relationship with Director Patel to misappropriate FBI resources," according to the suit.
Rebecca Kutler, MS NOW president, shared a statement with Raw Story regarding the lawsuit.
"We stand firmly behind MS NOW’s reporting. As a general matter of practice, we don’t comment on ongoing legal matters," Kutler said.
Political commentators responded to Wilkins's suit and the claims.
"Kash Patel girlfriend and 'country music sensation' Alexis Wilkins is suing MS NOW over reporting that she used FBI agents to drive a drunk friend around," Will Sommer, senior editor for The Bulwark, wrote on X.
"Kash Patel’s girlfriend Alexis Wilkins sues MS NOW for defamation citing the novel legal standard: 'This was hogwash and they knew it,'" Ron Filipkowski, editor in chief of MeidasTouch, wrote on X.
"Her brand would be damaged if people thought she used Kash Patel to get FBI perks? Babe, if you’re dating Kash Patel, your brand is already wearing hazard lights," user Sundae_Gurl, a progressive social media account and frequent political commentator with more than 128,000 followers, wrote on X.
"Kash Patel continues to attack freedom of the press via the girl who is his friend. 'Alexis Wilkins, through her relationship with FBI Director Kash Patel, abused FBI resources' is the claim made in this latest lawsuit. How could anyone believe a non-spouse has power to abuse government resources she doesn't control? The Binall Law Group looks like they are simply attacking Patel's critics in the press by pretending to defend the girl-who-is-his-friend," Kyle Seraphin, a podcaster and former FBI agent with more than 246,000 followers, wrote on X.
"Can't wait to see them argue how a non-FBI employee and non-FBI spouse's access to a SWAT team protective detail and taxpayer funded jet isn't abusive," Steve Friend, FBI whistleblower and host of The American Radicals Podcast, wrote on X.