FBI Cuts Ties With ADL Over The Jewish Group's Targeting Of Charlie Kirk, TPUSA, Conservatives

FBI Director Kash Patel announced on Wednesday, that the FBI has severed all formal ties with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a move he attributed to the ADL's designation of Charlie Kirk's Turning Point USA (TPUSA) as an extremist group and the Jewish organization's defamatory smear campaigns targeting American conservatives.

Patel condemned the previous relationship established under former FBI Director James Comey, accusing him of "disgracing the FBI" by fostering a close partnership with the ADL and embedding agents with "extreme group functioning like a terrorist organization."

The far-left Jewish group, ADL had recently removed its "Glossary of Extremism and Hate" following intense criticism from Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Donald Trump Jr., and Republican lawmakers, who argued the list was politically motivated and inaccurate.

Director Patel declared the era of the FBI's partnership with the ADL "over," stating the bureau "formally rejects Comey’s policies and any partnership with the ADL." He characterized the ADL as a "political front masquerading as a watchdog," and claimed the previous FBI operations involving the ADL were "activism dressed up as counterterrorism" that endangered Americans.

In 2014, Comey delivered a speech at an ADL conference that he later referred to as a "love letter to the ADL," praising the organization's work in combating hate and extremism. He reiterated this sentiment in a 2017 address at the ADL National Leadership Summit, where he expressed the FBI's "love" for the ADL.

These ties included embedding FBI agents with the ADL for counterterrorism efforts and using ADL propaganda materials for training and intelligence sharing. Patel criticized this relationship, which he claimed ran "disgraceful operations spying on Americans." Comey is currently facing federal charges for allegedly lying to Congress in 2020, which Patel referenced in his criticism.

The ADL's "Glossary of Extremism and Hate" described TPUSA as having ties to "a range of right-wing extremists and has generated support from anti-Muslim bigots, alt-lite activists and some corners of the white supremacist alt-right."

In response to the criticisms, the ADL removed the entire glossary from its website on Tuesday, citing outdated entries and misuse.

The controversy intensified following the assassination of Charlie Kirk, the founder of TPUSA, during a campus event in Utah in September 2025. Critics, including Musk and Republican lawmakers like Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, argued that the FBI was investigating Kirk instead of his murderers.

Far-left critics of Kash's decision have accused him of politicizing the FBI, while supporters argue it restores the bureau's focus on genuine threats over ideological vendettas.