Kash Patel has reportedly turned another FBI work trip into a luxury date-night excursion.
The embattled FBI director, 46, allegedly flew with girlfriend Alexis Wilkins, 27, on the bureau’s Gulfstream V jet to a country music concert in May last year before returning later that same night.
The lavish outing was revealed in a sweeping New York Times investigation into Patel’s increasingly controversial use of FBI resources for apparently personal travel and leisure activities, often involving his girlfriend.
Patel and Wilkins reportedly traveled from Washington to Philadelphia on May 10, 2025, to watch country singers George Strait and Chris Stapleton perform from a private suite that cost between $35,000 and $50,000.
The Times reported that the FBI flight crew and Patel’s security detail remained on duty until after 11 p.m., waiting for the couple to leave the concert, thereby collecting overtime pay.
When asked by the Times who paid for the luxury suite, Patel—through an FBI spokesperson—declined to answer.
The bureau instead told the paper that Wilkins had been “an invited guest” of the performers, though representatives for Strait and Stapleton reportedly did not respond to multiple requests for confirmation from the Times.
The FBI did not immediately respond to the Daily Beast’s request for comment.
The outing is the latest controversy engulfing Patel, who has already faced scrutiny over mixing business with leisure, and allegedly directing FBI resources toward protecting and accommodating Wilkins.
The new revelations come days after Patel was slammed over a secretive “VIP snorkel” excursion near the USS Arizona memorial at Pearl Harbor—a sacred war grave where recreational swimming is usually prohibited.
In a statement, an FBI spokesperson told the Daily Beast that the snorkeling event was part of an “official trip.”
“As part of our engagements in the Indo-Pacific theater, the IndoPacom Commander graciously offered to host the Director and team at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, as they commonly do with U.S. government officials on official travel,” the spokesperson said.
“This was 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.”
The Pearl Harbor excursion and concert trip were just two examples highlighted in the Times’ report into Patel’s use of bureau resources, which also detailed the extraordinary level of protection Patel allegedly arranged for Wilkins after becoming FBI director.
Patel allegedly directed agents from multiple field offices to help provide his girlfriend with a full-time security detail in Nashville, including four SWAT agents and two SUVs assigned to her personal travel and errands.
A former senior FBI official said the arrangement could cost taxpayers roughly $1 million per year, plus overtime and vehicle expenses.
“The badge is a responsibility, not a VIP pass,” former FBI special agent Rob D’Amico told the Times.
The allegations are especially awkward because Patel previously blasted former FBI Director Christopher Wray for using government aircraft for personal travel.
“I’m just saying, Chris Wray doesn’t need a government-funded G5 jet to go to vacation,” Patel said in a 2023 interview.
“Maybe we ground that plane.”
