Was Secret Service protection ever officially provided to Cash Patel or his girlfriend?

1. What the reporting actually says: FBI detail, not Secret Service

Journalistic accounts from The New York Times, Forbes, People and MS NOW report that Alexis Wilkins has been guarded by an FBI security detail — in at least one story described as members of a SWAT team from a local bureau field office — and those reports attribute the protection to FBI resources rather than to the U.S. Secret Service ^{[2] [3] [1]}. Those pieces describe agents assigned specifically to protect Wilkins at events and say people with knowledge of operations provided the details ^{[2] [3] [1]}.

2. Secret Service mention — absence in major accounts

None of the cited, mainstream stories assert that the Secret Service provided protection to Wilkins or to Patel. The New York Times and People explicitly discuss FBI SWAT teams or an “FBI security detail” ^{[2] [1]}. Available sources do not mention any Secret Service protection being officially provided to either Kash Patel or his girlfriend ^{[2] [1] [3]}.

3. How outlets describe the protection and its critics

The New York Times recounts instances in which SWAT-team members were reported to have traveled to events where Wilkins performed and says those elite agents were sent by bureau orders — an arrangement that people familiar with the matter called unusual ^[2]. Coverage notes criticism that assigning such specialized FBI resources to protect a private citizen can divert tactical assets and raise ethical and oversight questions ^{[2] [3]}.

4. Context on “unusual” vs. routine protections

Reporters quoted anonymous officials saying Patel has his own protective detail — a standard arrangement for some high-level officials — and that protecting Wilkins when she travels with Patel would be within the normal scope of protecting the principal; what drew scrutiny was reports that Wilkins had an individualized SWAT-team assignment separate from Patel’s movement, which sources described as atypical ^{[4] [3]}. The New York Times specifically framed the SWAT deployment as a controversial departure from routine protective practices ^[2].

5. Conflicting narratives and official pushback

Some outlets highlight that the White House and Patel’s defenders pushed back on other reporting about Patel’s standing in the administration ^{[5] [6]}. While that pushback concerns separate reporting about whether the president was considering Patel’s removal, it illustrates political actors contesting narratives around Patel; however, the pushback cited in those sources does not deny the reporting about the FBI detail protecting Wilkins ^{[5] [6]}. Available sources do not show an explicit, authoritative denial that an FBI protective detail guarded Wilkins.

6. What is not established in current reporting

Available sources do not provide a public, formal FBI statement confirming the precise authorizations, chain-of-command orders, or legal justifications for assigning SWAT personnel to Wilkins. They also do not document any official Secret Service role for either Patel or Wilkins; if the user asks whether Secret Service protection was “officially provided,” the reporting cited here does not support that claim and does not show Secret Service involvement ^{[2] [1] [3]}. Detailed internal memos, formal agency declarations, or a public Secret Service roster naming Wilkins are not present in the cited reporting ^{[2] [1]}.

7. Competing perspectives and implicit agendas

Reporting comes amid intense scrutiny of Patel’s tenure and political loyalty; critics frame the security assignment as misuse of FBI resources and favoritism, while defenders point to legitimate threat assessments for senior officials and their associates ^{[2] [3]}. Some outlets sympathetic to Patel’s allies have pushed back on other critical stories about him — an implicit media and political contest over framing — but those pushbacks cited in this set do not address whether the FBI detail existed ^{[5] [6]}.

8. Bottom line for your question

The reporting in these sources documents that Alexis Wilkins was reportedly protected by an FBI security detail, including SWAT-team members in some accounts, and that Patel has his own protective agents; the sources do not report any official Secret Service protection for Wilkins or Patel ^{[2] [1] [3]}. If you need confirmation beyond press reporting — such as an official FBI or Secret Service statement or internal documents — those are not present in the current set of sources ^{[2] [1]}.