By Steve Neavling
The FBI has severed ties with the Anti-Defamation League following conservative criticism of the group’s work on extremism.
In a social media post Wednesday, FBI Director Kash Patel said the bureau “won’t partner with political fronts masquerading as watchdogs.”
The move came after billionaire Elon Musk and other right-wing figures attacked the ADL for labeling Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA as having a history of “bigoted statements” in its “Glossary of Extremism and Hate,” Reuters reports.
Kirk, a prominent conservative activist, was assassinated in September.
Facing the backlash, the ADL removed the glossary from its website. In a statement, the group said it “has deep respect” for the FBI.
The ADL has worked with the FBI since the 1940s, providing data and research on extremism and hosting law enforcement trainings. Former FBI Director James Comey told an ADL summit in 2014 that the group partnered with the bureau on civil rights and hate crime programs.
Civil rights advocates have long criticized Kirk for remarks they called racist, anti-immigrant, transphobic and misogynistic, while his supporters hailed him as a conservative voice who energized young voters for Trump.
The ADL documents antisemitism and hate.
