FBI has cut ties with the Anti-Defamation League, accusing the organization of spying on conservatives. FBI director Kash Patel made the announcement on Wednesday, after prominent conservatives, including Elon Musk criticized the organization for its inclusion of the murdered right-wing activist Charlie Kirk in its “Glossary of Extremism and Hate.”
Patel mentioned the ADL’s associations with former FBI Director James Comey, a prominent critic of President Donald Trump who was indicted last week on charges of obstruction and lying to the US Congress. “This FBI won’t partner with political fronts masquerading as watchdogs,” Patel said in a social media post.
In a 2014 speech to the ADL’s National Leadership Summit, Comey said the FBI had made the advocacy group’s Law Enforcement and Society training mandatory for personnel and partnered with it to draft a “Hate Crimes Training Manual”. Comey called the ADL’s experience in investigating hate crimes “essential” and its training “eye-opening and insightful.” “If this sounds a bit like a love letter to the ADL, it is, and rightly so,” he said.
READ: U.S. Supreme Court to fast-track Trump tariffs case; ruling expected by early 2026 (
While Patel did not mention Kirk in his statement, his announcement came a day after the ADL removed over 1,000 references to his alleged extremism. The ADL said it made the decision as many of the terms were outdated and a number of entries had been “intentionally misrepresented and misused.”
The ADL, which is known for its work combating antisemitism has in its now deleted entry on Kirk and its organization Turning Point USA (TPUSA) said Kirk promoted “Christian nationalism” and “numerous conspiracy theories about election fraud and Covid-19 and has demonized the transgender community.” The entry also said TPUSA attracted racists, that its representatives had made “bigoted remarks” about minority groups and the LGBTQ community, and that white nationalists had attended its events, “even though the group says it rejects white supremacist ideology.”
Kirk himself had criticized ADL when he was alive, saying the organization as a “hate group that dons a religious mask to justify stoking hatred of the left’s enemies.” The ADL responded to Patel’s statement saying it had “deep respect” for the FBI and all law enforcement officers who work to protect Americans regardless of their ancestry, religion, ethnicity, faith and political affiliation. “In light of an unprecedented surge of antisemitism, we remain more committed than ever to our core purpose to protect the Jewish people,” it said.
ADL and its CEO Jonathan Greenblatt have previously received criticism for trying to cozy up to conservatives. Liberal critics have condemned the organization for being eager to criticize leftists, particularly critics of Israel, while offering relatively weak criticisms of Trump associates accused of antisemitism.