FBI Director Kash Patel announced that the bureau is cutting ties with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), ending a relationship built under former FBI Director James Comey.
Patel confirmed the decision in comments to Fox News Digital, citing concerns about the organization’s role in shaping FBI actions during Comey’s tenure.
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 said.
“That era is finished. This FBI formally rejects Comey’s policies and any partnership with the ADL,” he added.
🚨 BREAKING: FBI Director Kash Patel confirms the FBI has fully cut ties with the ADL after they labeled Turning Point and Christian identity as “hate/terror groups”
James Comey brought in the ADL and used their labels as an EXCUSE to spy on and harass conservative groups like… pic.twitter.com/sWfkWF1ETW
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) October 1, 2025
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The relationship between the FBI and the ADL was most visible during a May 8, 2017, address by Comey at the ADL National Leadership Summit in Washington, D.C.
In that speech, Comey described the bureau’s “love” for the organization.
He referred to a 2014 address as a “love letter to the ADL” and stated, “Three years later I can say, 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.
He praised the group’s century-long advocacy, declaring, “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.” He ended the speech by saying, “Love, the FBI.”
In recent weeks, the ADL has drawn criticism from Elon Musk and several Republican lawmakers over its labeling of conservative groups.
The organization listed Turning Point USA (TPUSA), led by Charlie Kirk, as an extremist group.
The move sparked controversy, and on Tuesday, the ADL announced that it had removed its entire “Glossary of Extremism and Hate” from its website.
“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 wrote on X.
“We also saw a number of entries intentionally misrepresented and misused.”
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 ADL added that ending the glossary “will allow us to explore new strategies and creative approaches to deliver our data and present our research more effectively.”
The group said its goal remains “fighting antisemitism and hate in the most impactful ways possible.”
The decision to remove the glossary comes nearly three weeks after Charlie Kirk was assassinated during an event at Utah Valley University.
The incident intensified scrutiny of the ADL’s classifications, as critics argued its definitions had influenced federal investigations.
“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,” Musk wrote in a post 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
In a separate post, he called the ADL “a hate group.”
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., also criticized the ADL’s categorization of TPUSA. “Seems to me like if they don’t agree with you, they will label you a ‘hate group,’” Luna wrote on X.
On the ADL’s website, TPUSA is listed under the “Center of Extremism” section, where it is described as having ties to “a range of right-wing extremists” and as a group that “has generated support from anti-Muslim bigots, alt-lite activists and some corners of the white supremacist alt-right.”
The @ADL has some explaining to do. Seems to me like if they don’t agree with you, they will label you a “hate group.” pic.twitter.com/vogIzOiqCQ
— Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (@RepLuna) September 29, 2025
The FBI’s move to sever ties marks a significant shift from the Comey era, when the bureau openly collaborated with the ADL. Patel’s announcement indicates that partnership has formally ended.
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