A federal court on Tuesday was asked to dismiss the lawsuit filed by Nashville-based musical artist and conservative pundit Alexis Wilkins against Kyle Seraphin, the former FBI agent who began podcasting after blowing the whistle against the agency during the Biden administration.
Wilkins alleged in the lawsuit that Seraphin intentionally defamed her during an August episode of his podcast, when the former FBI agent claimed Wilkins was a “honeypot” associated with the Israeli intelligence agency, Mossad, who had compromised FBI Director Kash Patel. Wilkins and Patel have been dating since 2023. The term “honeypotting,” in statecraft, refers to the process by which foreign intelligence agents obtain information or blackmail through romantic encounters.
“Wilkins is not Jewish, much less Israeli, and has never set foot in Israel. She is not now and has never been an agent for any intelligence agency,” stated Wilkins’ attorneys in her lawsuit. “There is absolutely no reason – outside Defendant’s desire to stir up controversy and generate income for himself – to accuse Ms. Wilkins, an American-born country singer, of being a foreign agent engaged in espionage.”
In his motion to dismiss, Seraphin’s attorneys argued the former FBI agent was merely referring to claims made by other individuals, while employing a “humorous, sarcastic, and hyperbolic” style of delivery that no reasonable listener would treat as factual.
Seraphin acknowledged through the filing that he claimed Patel, “had his own little honeypot issue,” consisting of “a girlfriend that’s half his age who apparently is both a country music singer, a political commentator on Rumble, a friend now of John Rich through [FBI Deputy Director Dan] Bongino, who also owns a big chunk of Rumble, and she’s also a former Mossad agent in what is like the equivalent of their NSA.”
However, the podcast host’s lawyers argued the comments were “sarcastic, tongue-in-cheek remarks,” and that they “were plainly not made with malice or animus against Ms. Wilkins.”
The filing also points to posts to X from former U.S. Senate candidate Sam Parker, a user named Ian Malcolm, and Dutch scientist Dr. Simon Goddek, who all made similar claims about Wilkins prior to those by Seraphin.
“Alexis Wilkins is twenty years younger than Kash and works for an NGO that’s basically Israeli intelligence,” claimed Goddek in July, seemingly referencing Prager University, where Wilkins works as an influencer.
Malcolm wrote in February that Wilkins, “works with the JEWISH funded [PragerU],” and noted the nonprofit’s CEO once served in the Israel Defense Forces.
The claims were also shared by Parker, a former Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Utah, who was eliminated at the party’s convention in 2018. As recently as this month, Parker also highlighted Wilkins’ work as press secretary for U.S. Representative Abe Hamadeh (R-AZ-08), who Parker described as a “spy.”
Born in Illinois, Hamadeh was sent to Congress by Arizona voters last year after President Donald Trump endorsed him. Hamadeh previously served in the U.S. Army Reserve as an intelligence officer.
Seraphin’s filing also referenced a post to X by Erica Knight, who previously served as a communication strategist for Patel, and in July dismissed claims that Wilkins had some association with Israel or Mossad.
“Kash Patel was never married and did not leave the imaginary children from this nonexistent marriage in a nonexistent luxury Hamptons mansion for a (not Jewish, Christian country singing) Mossad Honeypot,” wrote Knight.
Wilkins is seeking more than $5 million in damages and has asked the court for a jury trial.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Kash Patel and Alexis Wilkins” by Alexis Wilkins.
