Listen to article • 0:00 min
FBI Director Kash Patel, who has drawn criticism for allegedly using bureau resources for leisure, flew into Philadelphia on a government jet last spring to attend a country music concert, the New York Times reported Friday.
The FBI director and his girlfriend, Alexis Wilkins, traveled from Washington to Philadelphia on May 10, 2025, to see George Strait and Chris Stapleton perform at Lincoln Financial Field, the report said. According to the Times, Patel and Wilkins flew here and back to Virginia on the FBI’s Gulfstream V jet.
The couple watched the hot-ticket country music performance from a suite at the Linc, which the Times reported sold for $35,000 to $50,000.
According to an Inquirer review, more than 52,000 fans attended Strait’s two-hour, 30-song show, the first of his 2025 tour. The crowd’s dress code of choice was jean skirts and cowboy boots.
An FBI spokesperson told the Times that Wilkins, a country singer herself, was “an invited guest” of the performers. Through the spokesperson, Patel declined to respond to the Times’ questions about who financed the outing for himself and Wilkins. Patel has previously come under fire for providing Wilkins with a full-time security detail, citing death threats.
Earlier this week, the Associated Press also reported that Patel took a “VIP snorkel” around a sunken battleship at Pearl Harbor after a trip visiting the bureau’s South Pacific facilities.
Patel has struggled to shake questions about his use of a government jet for flights around the country that have no clear law enforcement purpose, including when he traveled to State College last fall for a pro wrestling event where Wilkins performed the national anthem.
In February, the issue arose again when video surfaced of Patel partying in the locker room with members of the U.S. men’s hockey team after their gold medal win at the Winter Olympics in Milan.
Patel has defended the trip.
This article contains information from the Associated Press.