FBI Director Kash Patel temporarily paused cooperation with Canadian law enforcement after objecting to CBC News’ guidelines for describing the Sept. 11 attacks as “terrorism,” The New York Times reported Friday.
FBI officials canceled meetings with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and indicated that they would be out of contact for a period, the Times reported, citing multiple officials familiar with the matter.
The pause did not end all cooperation between the FBI and RCMP, and other parts of the U.S. government continued sharing intelligence with Canada. It ended around the 25th anniversary of the attacks, though its exact duration was unclear.
The dispute began after CBC circulated guidance based on its longstanding policy of attributing the terms “terrorism” and “terrorist” to experts or public officials rather than applying the labels independently.
Patel threatened consequences for Canadian agencies and highlighted coverage of the controversy in a pair of August posts on X. He wrote Aug. 28 that agencies that failed to publicly reject the guidance would no longer have a friend in the FBI, calling the policy a distortion of history and an insult to the victims of 9/11.
CBC is editorially independent from the Canadian government. The RCMP, meanwhile, is Canada’s national law enforcement agency and works closely with the FBI on terrorism, cybersecurity and other national security matters.
CBC News updated its guidance Aug. 28 amid the widespread criticism, telling journalists they could describe the attacks as terrorism without attribution. Twenty-four Canadians were among the nearly 3,000 people killed on 9/11.
“Neither the U.S. government nor the FBI contacted us about our language guidance,” CBC Head of Public Affairs Chuck Thompson told TheWrap of the changes. “CBC News independently made the change to its language guidance.”
Some FBI cooperation with the RCMP nevertheless stopped within days, according to the Times. U.S. officials reportedly sought an apology, though it was unclear whether one was provided.
“We value our relationship with our U.S. counterparts, as we work closely to respond to threats to national security and maintain situational awareness of emerging risks,” the RCMP told the Times.
Representatives for the FBI declined to comment to TheWrap.
