FBI Director Kash Patel has terminated the bureau’s longstanding partnership with the Anti-Defamation League—explicitly linking the move to Donald Trump nemesis James Comey.
Patel declared the end of the relationship in a social media post, accusing the watchdog, which tackles antisemitism and bigotry, of spying on conservative groups and labeling the organization a political front.
The 45-year-old—nicknamed Keystone Kash for his numerous crime-fighting failures—admitted that the reasons behind the decision included its links to Comey.
Trump has described the former FBI director as his political enemy—which kicked off when Comey helped trigger the escalation of Russia probe against him—and Comey was indicted last week by the Department of Justice.
“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 on X. “That era is OVER.”
Comey himself once described his praise for the ADL as precisely that. In a 2014 speech he called his remarks “a love letter,” while lauding a Holocaust education program that was mandatory at the FBI’s Quantico academy.
The ADL—whose aim is to tackle antisemitism—has for years funneled intelligence to the bureau, providing “hundreds of tips” on extremist activity each year, according to Politico.
The ADL refrained from firing back. “ADL has deep respect for the FBI and law enforcement officers at all levels across the country who work tirelessly every single day to protect all Americans regardless of their ancestry, religion, ethnicity, faith, political affiliation or any other point of difference,” the group said in a statement.
The break follows weeks of escalating right-wing attacks on the ADL.
After the killing of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk last month, Patel allies claimed the watchdog unfairly smeared the conservative leader as a promoter of “Christian nationalism.”
The ADL this week removed its entire “Glossary of Extremism and Hate,” which had included an entry on TP USA—saying many entries were outdated and had been misused, The Washington Post reported.
Amplifying Patel’s move was tech titan and former Trump adviser Elon Musk, who has had a longstanding feud with the ADL.
He claimed on X on Wednesday that the FBI drew on “hate group” definitions from the ADL to target Kirk and other Trump allies in 2020 election probes.
In 2023, Musk threatened to sue and boosted #BanTheADL, later calling the group a “hate group” that “hates Christians,” and drawing fury last January over an apparent Nazi-style salute that the ADL controversially downplayed as an “awkward gesture.”
His latest allegation against the ADL has not been substantiated.
The Daily Beast has contacted the FBI, the ADL, and Musk for comment.
