Kash Patel cuts FBI ties with Anti-Defamation League
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FBI Director Kash Patel testifies before the House Judiciary Committee on Sept. 17. Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images
FBI Director Kash Patel ended the bureau's long-standing partnership with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), the prominent civil rights group that has worked with law enforcement to combat antisemitism and extremism.
Why it matters: His announcement came after the ADL faced right-wing backlash for its web pages on the Christian Identity movement and Turning Point USA, the group founded by slain MAGA activist Charlie Kirk.
- Patel did not elaborate on why the FBI was severing its ties with the organization now. His announcement came on the eve of the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, Yom Kippur.
- Axios' request to the FBI over whether the decision was tied to the outrage from Elon Musk, Donald Trump Jr. and others was met with an unrelated response about the "lapse in appropriations."
Driving the news: "James Comey wrote 'love letters' to the ADL and embedded FBI agents with them - a group that ran disgraceful ops spying on Americans," Patel wrote in a Wednesday X post.
- "That era is OVER," he continued. "This FBI won't partner with political fronts masquerading as watchdogs."
- His reference to Comey, who was indicted last week after President Trump publicly called for action against him, seems to allude to 2014 remarks where the then-FBI director applauded the ADL's "leadership in tracking and exposing domestic and international terrorist threats."
- Comey, speaking at an ADL summit, said, "If this sounds a bit like a love letter to the ADL, it is, and rightly so." In a separate 2017 address, he echoed that language and said, "we are still in love with you."
The other side: The ADL said in a response to Patel's announcement that it has "deep respect" for the FBI and law enforcement officers.
- "In light of an unprecedented surge of antisemitism, we remain more committed than ever to our core purpose to protect the Jewish people," the statement continued.
- Following the wave of backlash late last month, the ADL moved to scrap its "Glossary of Extremism," which had included information on Kirk's group, saying it contained "outdated" entries and that "a number of entries" had been "intentionally misrepresented and misused."
- Musk, once a fervent administration ally, claimed on X that the FBI was "taking their 'hate group' definitions from ADL."
The big picture: The ADL has long worked with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies on workshops and briefings on hate crimes and extremism.
Go deeper: ADL: Antisemitic incidents hit record level in 2024
