Alexis Wilkins walked onto the National Rifle Association’s convention stage in Atlanta last spring with a voice built for country arenas — and, it turns out, a security entourage built for hostage rescues. The 27-year-old singer, who is dating FBI Director Kash Patel, arrived under the watch of a SWAT team normally tasked with storming barricaded buildings, not babysitting VIPs at political events.

The two agents had been dispatched on Patel’s orders, according to six people familiar with the matter. Once they saw the venue was secure and Wilkins was in no danger, they left. That move didn’t sit well with Patel. Insiders say he tore into the team’s commander afterward, furious his girlfriend had been left without taxpayer-funded muscle on the convention floor.

The blowup is now at the center of growing questions inside the administration about Patel’s heavy use of FBI resources in his first nine months. What began as a few raised eyebrows has snowballed into a full-blown internal revolt over how far the director is willing to stretch the bureau’s credibility — and its budget — to protect himself and his rising-star girlfriend.

Patel, 45, has leaned on federal resources for everything from Wilkins’s travel to his own recreational trips. He’s used the bureau’s Gulfstream jet for personal jaunts, including a Scotland golf getaway with friends. Although directors are allowed to fly on government planes for official business and secure communications, Patel’s pattern has left some longtime agents seething.

Much of the friction centers on Wilkins, whose appearances at political and entertainment events have repeatedly pulled SWAT agents away from high-risk missions. Field offices in Nashville, Salt Lake City, and Las Vegas have all been tapped, sometimes with little warning, to provide ad hoc protection for Wilkins or Patel, according to current and former officials.

“It shows a lack of judgment and humility,” said former FBI agent Christopher O’Leary. “SWAT agents aren’t bodyguards.”

The criticism extends beyond tactical teams. Patel’s travel schedule — including trips to see Wilkins in Nashville and visits to his Las Vegas home — has drawn fire even from right-wing personalities who once cheered his rise. Conservative podcaster Kyle Seraphin accused Patel of using a government jet “to hang out with his chick” during a government shutdown.

Patel, meanwhile, has cast himself and Wilkins as victims of political attacks. In a blistering post on X, he called the scrutiny “disgustingly baseless,” describing Wilkins as a patriot who has “done more for this nation than most will in 10 lifetimes.” His spokesman insists all protection for Wilkins is warranted because of “hundreds of credible death threats.”

But inside the FBI, officials say the issue isn’t whether Wilkins faces threats — it’s the extraordinary resources directed at her. The director’s girlfriend has been flown in embassy vehicles, met by FBI security overseas, and shepherded through political events with teams normally reserved for counterterror raids.

Meanwhile, Patel has publicly supported deep budget cuts to the FBI, even as his travel bills rise. And when journalists traced his jet to a wrestling event where Wilkins performed in October, Patel reportedly fired a senior bureau official for failing to hide the plane’s identification number.

Wilkins, for her part, embraces the spotlight. She promotes herself as half of a MAGA power couple, posting photos from events and screenshots of threats she says justify her enhanced security.

“Just a morning in my DMs,” she wrote last week, sharing messages urging her to take a bullet.

Inside the bureau, the grumbling is no longer quiet. For some agents, the question is no longer whether Patel is misusing government resources — it’s how long the FBI can withstand the fallout.