The FBI announced Wednesday it is severing its partnership with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), with Director Kash Patel issuing an unusual attack against the group that battles antisemitism.

Patel blasted former FBI Director James Comey, referencing a speech the former director gave to the group in 2014, which he called a “love letter to the ADL” when he again addressed the group in 2017. Comey has been a top target of President Trump and was indicted last month.

“James Comey wrote ‘love letters’ to the ADL,” Patel wrote Wednesday, adding that Comey “embedded FBI agents with them.”

“That era is OVER. This FBI won’t partner with political fronts masquerading as watchdogs.”

The announcement came the day after the ADL abruptly ended its Glossary of Extremism.

“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 At the same time, an increasing number of entries in the Glossary were outdated.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 intentionally misrepresented and misused,” the group said.

Though not addressed in Patel’s post, the glossary did include references to Turning Point USA (TPUSA), the group founded by right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, who was assassinated at an event last month.

The ADL had a backgrounder on TPUSA, first written in 2019 but updated after Kirk’s death, that noted he promoted Christian nationalism.

“Individuals associated with TPUSA have a history of bigoted statements about the Black community, the LGBTQ community and specifically transgender people, and other minority groups,” an archived page states.

“While TPUSA repeatedly has stated that it rejects white supremacist ideology, white nationalists openly have attended their events. Moreover, extremists and far-right conspiracy theorists have been featured at the AmericaFest conference and other TPUSA events. However, it should be noted that Kirk himself publicly condemned such groups, insisting that they did not represent TPUSA and their beliefs.”

The ADL did not address Patel’s claims but reiterated its support for the FBI.

“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 a statement.

“In light of an unprecedented surge of antisemitism, we remain more committed than ever to our core purpose to protect the Jewish people.”

Patel’s comments were an unusual criticism of the ADL amid Trump administration efforts to promote combating antisemitism in their law enforcement efforts.

However, the bulk of that work has included targeting universities for their approach to protests over the Israel-Hamas conflict.

It’s not clear what partnership the two organizations had. In his 2017 speech, Comey nodded to the group’s work in tracking antisemitic incidents and hate crimes and coordinating over terror plots, praising the group for speaking out against bigotry.

“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. And we are creating a sense of trust and solidarity, so they know they can call us and count on us to protect them,” Comey said at the ADL’s national summit.

“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.”

Patel’s predecessor, Christopher Wray, previously noted antisemitic attacks make up the bulk of all hate crimes.

“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 during a 2023 appearance before Congress, declaring antisemitism had reached “historic” levels.