Overview
- The New York Times, which disclosed the episode Wednesday, said agents interviewed Alexis Wilkins, ran database checks on reporter Elizabeth Williamson, and urged a stalking review after her story on FBI Director Kash Patel’s use of bureau resources.
- The FBI said it will not pursue a case and said the questions arose in a Boston death‑threat investigation that cited the article about Wilkins.
- Justice Department officials stopped the push to probe the reporter, calling the legal theory unsupported and, according to sources, retaliatory.
- Times leadership and press‑freedom groups condemned the move as an effort to chill reporting, and House Judiciary Democrats asked Patel what FBI databases were used.
- Patel denied using the bureau to target the reporter and is suing The Atlantic for $250 million over a separate article about his conduct.