FBI Director Kash Patel\u2019s girlfriend has sued MS NOW, accusing the news organization of using \u201csham\u201d anonymous sources to \u201cpush knowingly or recklessly false allegations\u201d that she abused bureau resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alexis Wilkins\u2019 suit, filed in federal court in Nashville, Tennessee, on Friday, names MS NOW as a defendant alongside Ken Dilanian and Carol Leonnig, two of the cable news channel\u2019s reporters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The defendants \u201cfalsely asserted that Ms. Wilkins demanded, and Director Patel ordered, that federal agents assigned to her security detail\u2014which did not even exist at the time\u2014escort an intoxicated friend home after a \u2018night of partying.\u2019 They falsely portrayed Ms. Wilkins as being intoxicated even knowing that she does not drink,\u201d Kurt Beasley, Jason C. Greaves and Jared R. Roberts, Wilkins\u2019 attorneys, wrote in part.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis false portrayal is highly offensive to Ms. Wilkins, and would be to any reasonable person in her situation. Ms. Wilkins\u2019 professional identity is of a responsible, sober young woman who does not partake in the excess drinking culture and party scene that is typical for musicians,\u201d Wilkins\u2019 lawyers added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the article published on MS NOW\u2019s website, Dilanian and Leonnig reported that, on more than one occasion, Patel ordered that the security detail protecting Wilkins escort one of her inebriated friends home after a night of partying in Nashville. Wilkins\u2019 lawyers acknowledge that the article, published on Dec. 5, does not accuse Wilkins of drinking, though Wilkins\u2019 lawyers argue \u201cthat is precisely the impression Defendants constructed and conveyed, and reasonable readers of MS Now would come to that conclusion.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In response to a request for comment, MS NOW President Rebecca Kutler said in a statement: \u201cWe stand firmly behind MS NOW\u2019s reporting. As a general matter of practice, we don\u2019t comment on ongoing legal matters.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
MS NOW was formerly a unit of NBC News\u2019 parent company, NBCUniversal, under the brand name MSNBC. In early January, NBCUniversal officially spun off its cable channels into a separate publicly traded company called Versant Media Group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wilkins\u2019 lawyers wrote that MS NOW\u2019s \u201cfalse portrayal\u201d of Wilkins, a country music singer and actor, \u201cdirectly and proximately caused\u201d her to \u201csuffer humiliation and actual damages to her professional identity, reputation, and standing in the community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wilkins\u2019 lawsuit says both that she is \u201csober\u201d and that she \u201cvery rarely drinks, if ever.\u201d Ben Williamson, an FBI spokesman, told Dilanian before the article was published that she \u201cdoesn\u2019t even drink,\u201d according to the suit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wilkins is seeking a jury trial and more than $75,000 in damages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Two of Wilkins\u2019 lawyers also represent Patel in a separate lawsuit against The Atlantic over an article it published in April alleging he drinks to excess. The attorneys allege in that suit that the article is a \u201csweeping, malicious and defamatory hit piece.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a statement at the time, an Atlantic spokeswoman said: \u201cWe stand by our reporting on Kash Patel, and we will vigorously defend The Atlantic and our journalists against this meritless lawsuit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n