The era of the FBI and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) working together is “finished,” according to FBI Director Kash Patel.
He announced that the agency is cutting ties with the ADL that were established under former FBI chief James Comey, who once gushed about his and the FBI’s “love” for the organization. The ADL came under heavy backlash in the last weeks following the assassination of Charlie Kirk, as it was criticized for listing Turning Point USA as a right-wing extremist group.
Patel said the FBI “won’t partner with political fronts masquerading as watchdogs,” in a post on social media.
James Comey wrote “love letters” to the ADL and embedded FBI agents with them – a group that ran disgraceful ops spying on Americans.
That era is OVER. This FBI won’t partner with political fronts masquerading as watchdogs. pic.twitter.com/R6IKpSTfuP
— FBI Director Kash Patel (@FBIDirectorKash) October 1, 2025
“James Comey disgraced the FBI by writing ‘love letters’ to the ADL and embedding agents with an extreme group functioning like a terrorist organization, and the disgraceful operation they ran, spying on Americans. That was not law enforcement, it was activism dressed up as counterterrorism, and it put Americans in danger,” Patel told Fox News Digital.
“That era is finished. This FBI formally rejects Comey’s policies and any partnership with the ADL,” Patel added in the statement.
In its own statement, the ADL expressed its “deep respect” for the FBI and emphasized its commitment to fighting antisemitism.
“As we prepare to observe the holiest day of the year on the Jewish calendar, we have seen the statement from FBI Director Patel regarding the FBI’s relationship with ADL,” the organization shared on X. “ADL has deep respect for the Federal Bureau of Investigation 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.”
— ADL (@ADL) October 1, 2025
In a 2017 speech to the Anti-Defamation League National Leadership Summit in Washington, D.C., Comey declared that “from the perspective of the FBI, we’re still in love with you.”
“We are not only educating ourselves, we are working with the ADL to build bridges in the communities we serve,” Comey said at the time.”For more than 100 years, you have advocated for fairness and equality… And for all of that, we are grateful. As a law enforcement and national security agency, yes. But also as Americans. As humans.”
The ADL removed its “Glossary of Extremism and Hate” this week after much criticism, including from Elon Musk.
With over 1,000 entries written over many years, the ADL Glossary of Extremism has served as a source of high-level information on a wide range of topics for years. At the same time, an increasing number of entries in the Glossary were outdated. We also saw a number of entries… pic.twitter.com/1Wj7hy6sLV
— ADL (@ADL) September 30, 2025
“The FBI was taking their ‘hate group’ definitions from ADL, which is why FBI was investigating Charlie Kirk [and] Turning Point, instead of his murderers,” wrote Musk on X.
The FBI was taking their “hate group” definitions from ADL, which is why FBI was investigating Charlie Kirk & Turning Point, instead of his murderers … https://t.co/xTAfSY8vqr
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 1, 2025
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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida. Powers also contributes to BizPac Review.
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