Copyright Salt Lake Tribune
Country singer Alexis Wilkins, who is dating FBI director Kash Patel, has filed a $5 million defamation lawsuit against a Utah social media influencer — arguing the man fabricated his claim that she’s an Israeli spy and is using his tale as “fund-raising click-bait.” Her federal lawsuit targets Utahn Sam Parker, who once ran for Congress and now frequently posts on social media. He has nearly 100,000 followers on his “BasedSamParker” X account, where he has asked them for financial support. The Tennessee woman alleges in her lawsuit that Parker has repeatedly lied about her online, falsely asserting that she is an Israeli “honeypot” agent who began her relationship with Patel to “manipulate and compromise” him in his role as FBI director. He further suggested on social media that Wilkins’ “presumed Israeli status” is the reason why investigative files in Jeffrey Epstein’s case haven’t been released, the lawsuit filed Friday states, and none of this is true, The country singer’s lawyers describe her in the lawsuit as “a Christian, American-born, United States citizen” who is “unaffiliated with any intelligence agency, much less the government of Israel.” They added: “Ms. Wilkins has never even been to Israel,” The lawsuit alleges that Parker posted defamatory statements about Wilkins on X that he either knew were false or posted with “reckless disregard for the truth.” Wilkins’ attorneys did not immediately respond to a request for comment. There is no attorney listed in the federal court docket yet for Parker; he didn’t immediately respond to messages sent to two of his X accounts Wednesday. The country singer has sued at least two other online influencers — Kyle Seraphin in Texas and Elijah Schaffer in Florida — who she alleges have created “self-enriching clickbait” by spreading similar misinformation that she is an Israeli spy. In the lawsuit against Schaffer, Wilkins’ attorney wrote that the singer has been targeted for no other reason than her relationship with Patel. Patel, who has come under fire recently for using an FBI jet to travel to see Wilkins perform, shared a lengthy post on X defending her. “The disgustingly baseless attacks against Alexis — a true patriot and the woman I’m proud to call my partner in life — are beyond pathetic,” he wrote. “She is a rock-solid conservative and a country music sensation who has done more for this nation than most will in ten lifetimes. I’m so blessed she’s in my life.” Wilkins alleges in her lawsuit that Parker’s defamatory statements have led to “hatred, distrust, ridicule, and/or contempt” against her. She’s asked for a jury trial and for $5 million in damages, saying she wants to hold Parker “accountable for his malicious and knowing lies.” Parker was one of 11 Utah Republicans who tried to knock Mitt Romney out of the U.S. Senate race in 2018. He was a Salt Lake City banker at the time, The Salt Lake Tribune reported. Earlier this year, he criticized singer and actress Selena Gomez and suggested that she should be deported after she posted a tearful video about the impact of President Donald Trump’s immigration policies. Gomez, who was born in Texas, responded to him on an Instagram story, saying, “Thanks for the laugh and the threat.”
