The New York Times reported on April 22, 2026, that FBI agents searched bureau databases for information on Times reporter Elizabeth Williamson and recommended opening a preliminary investigation into whether her February 28 reporting on FBI Director Kash Patel's decision to provide his girlfriend Alexis Wilkins with round-the-clock SWAT-team security amounted to federal stalking. Justice Department officials ended the inquiry after determining there was no legal basis to proceed and over concerns it was retaliatory. The FBI denied that Williamson was "personally investigated" but confirmed agents had queried databases and interviewed Wilkins about her, framing the work as victim-interview activity tied to a separate death-threat case.
On April 22, 2026, National Park Service acting director Jessica Bowron asked the White House whether NPS could extend an existing AECOM Services contract for White House grounds engineering to cover environmental-assessment work for President Trump's proposed 250-foot Triumphal Arch — a site on Park Service land across the Potomac River, more than a mile from the White House complex. Heather Martin, an Executive Office of the President official, approved the request within an hour. Internal emails obtained by The Washington Post and published May 14, 2026 show the arrangement would bypass federal competitive-bidding requirements; the Park Service estimated the arch work at $600,000, and contracting experts said the administration's Economy Act citation stretches a statute meant for agencies that lack procurement capability.
