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PortugueseIn a separate statement to Fox News, Patel went further, calling the ADL “an extreme group functioning like a terrorist organization.”
A decades-long partnership between the FBI and the nation’s leading antisemitism watchdog came to an abrupt end Wednesday when Director Kash Patel severed ties with the Anti-Defamation League.
“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. This FBI won’t partner with political fronts masquerading as watchdogs.”
In a separate statement to Fox News, Patel went further, calling the ADL “an extreme group functioning like a terrorist organization” and accusing Comey of running “activism dressed up as counterterrorism” that put Americans in danger.
The announcement came one day after the ADL abruptly deleted its Glossary of Extremism, a database with over 1,000 entries that had drawn fierce criticism from conservative figures including Elon Musk and Donald Trump Jr.
“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 At the same time, an increasing number of entries in the Glossary were outdated,” the group said. “We also saw a number of entries intentionally misrepresented and misused.”
The glossary included a backgrounder on Turning Point USA, the conservative youth organization founded by Charlie Kirk, who was assassinated at a speaking event in Utah last month. That entry noted individuals associated with TPUSA had “a history of bigoted statements about the Black community, the LGBTQ community and specifically transgender people, and other minority groups,” though it also acknowledged Kirk himself “publicly condemned” white supremacist groups and insisted “they did not represent TPUSA and their beliefs.”
Patel’s move represents a dramatic shift from his predecessors. While serving as FBI director, Comey gave speeches to the ADL, praising the organization’s work tracking antisemitic incidents and coordinating on terror plots.
“If this sounds a bit like a love letter to the ADL, it is, and rightly so,” Comey said at the 2014 ADL National Leadership Summit. At a 2017 speech, he declared, “from the perspective of the FBI, we’re still in love with you.”
“We are working with the ADL to build bridges in the communities we serve. We are listening to people’s concerns and letting them know how we can help,” Comey said at the time. “We want them to know that when we can’t prevent a hate crime, our agents and analysts will move heaven and earth to find those responsible.”
Comey, who became a top target of President Trump during and after his first term, was indicted last month on charges of making false statements to Congress and obstruction of justice.
Christopher Wray, who served as FBI director before Patel, also emphasized the Jewish community’s vulnerability to hate crimes during a 2023 congressional appearance.
“The reality is that the Jewish community is uniquely targeted by pretty much every terrorist organization across the spectrum. And when you look at a group that makes up 2.4 percent, roughly, of the American population, it should be jarring to everyone that that same population accounts for something like 60 percent of all religious-based hate crimes, and so they need our help,” Wray said, declaring antisemitism had reached “historic” levels.
Rather than respond to Patel’s accusations, the ADL issued a statement reaffirming its commitment to protecting the Jewish community.
“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,” the group said. “In light of an unprecedented surge of antisemitism, we remain more committed than ever to our core purpose to protect the Jewish people.” Donate to vital charities that help protect Israeli citizens and inspire millions around the world to support Israel too! Now more than ever, Israel needs your help to fight and win the war -- including on the battlefield of public opinion. Antisemitism, anti-Israel bias and boycotts are out of control. Israel's enemies are inciting terror and violence against innocent Israelis and Jews around the world. Help us fight back!
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