With The Trump Admin Pursuing Criminal Charges Against SPLC Will They Do The Same With The ADL?

I have one further thought about the Trump Administration's pursuit of criminal charges against the Southern Poverty Law Center. 

Is the Anti-Defamation League next?

I pose the question because the FBI severed its association with the SPLC and the ADL on the same day last October. At the time, FBI Director Kash Patel described the ADL as an "extreme group functioning like a terrorist organization."

Needless to say, I found Patel's assertions disturbing:

Keep in mind that Patel isn't some run-of-the-mill social media influencer. He is the top law enforcement official in the country. Instead of taking that role with the seriousness and sobriety it requires, Patel is claiming a long-standing civic organization "functioning" like a terrorist organization. For all intents and purposes, Patel is claiming the ADL is no different than al Qaeda, ISIS or, for that matter, Hezbollah. If that wasn't enough, Patel is also accusing the ADL of "spying on Americans." In so doing, Patel is essentially calling ADL "unAmerican" and othering Jews. Furthermore, Patel is making these claims without evidence.

Irresponsible and reckless statements like this from top public officials give legitimacy to anti-Semitism. It is only a matter of time before someone attacks an ADL office, another Jewish civic institution or a synagogue (like we saw in the UK today) resulting in a mass slaughter. Should such an event come to pass, Patel will undoubtedly condemn the attack. But he will have enabled the conditions to allow such an attack in the first place.

However, in view, of the criminal charges which have now been levied against the SPLC, one must consider the distinct possibility the DoJ may choose to pursue a criminal investigation against the ADL. Who knows? Given Patel's rhetoric perhaps they would see fit to charge the ADL with providing material support to a terrorist organization. A preposterous notion. Then again so is charging the SPLC for financing white supremacist groups.

I hate to say it but there would be less of a political cost in pursuing criminal charges against the ADL. Somehow, I doubt Senator Van Hollen or the ACLU would speak up for the ADL as they have for the SPLC. Unlike the SPLC, the ADL would be on its own should the Trump Admin decide to come after it.

In which case, one can only hope the courts will rein in the efforts of the Trump Admin to go after those who they perceive as enemies of America.