WASHINGTON -- Donald Trump's accusation that Hillary Clinton "meets in secret with international banks" drew criticism from the Anti-Defamation League, which said such charges "historically have been used against Jews."

Trump said Clinton was in the center of a "global power structure that is responsible for the economic decisions that have robbed our working class, stripped our country of its wealth, and put that money into the pockets of a handful of large corporations and political entities."

.@TeamTrump should avoid rhetoric&tropes that historically have been used ag. Jews & still spur #antisemitism. Lets keep hate out of cmpgn https://t.co/9LMnurQ3Xg — Jonathan Greenblatt (@JGreenblattADL) October 13, 2016

"@HillaryClinton meets in secret with international banks to plot the destruction of U.S. sovereignty in order to enrich" her donors. - DJT — Official Team Trump (@TeamTrump) October 13, 2016

Trump campaign spokeswoman Hope Hicks did not respond to a request for comment.

During his campaign, Trump defended a tweet showing Clinton and a Jewish star against a background of dollar bills, told Jewish Republicans that they wouldn't support him because he didn't want their money, and used as his campaign slogan "America First," the name of the World War II-era group that opposed fighting the Nazis and blamed the Jews for trying to push the U.S. into war.

In addition, a Trump adviser retweeted an endorsement from an anti-Semitic group, drawing more criticism from the ADL.

The Republican nominee's presidential campaign has been reeling since his performances in two debates, several accusations of sexual harassment, and the release of a video showing him describing women in vulgar language.

Trump denied the allegations and blamed Clinton at a rally in West Palm Beach, Fla., on Thursday.

"We've seen this firsthand in the WikiLeaks documents in which Hillary Clinton meets in secret with international banks to plot the destruction of U.S. sovereignty in order to enrich these global financial powers," Trump said.

The emails, which may have been obtained through Russian hacking, were released by WikiLeaks, whose founder Julian Assange has said he wants Clinton to lose.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Office of the Director of National Intelligence said Friday that they are "confident" that the Russian government has "directed" the hacking of emails from U.S. political organizations and others, and singled out WikiLeaks as one of the sites receiving the stolen documents.

"These thefts and disclosures are intended to interfere with the U.S. election process," the statement said. "We believe, based on the scope and sensitivity of these efforts, that only Russia's senior-most officials could have authorized these activities."

Trump at one point appeared to have invited Russian hacking.

"Russia, if you're listening, I hope you're able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing," Trump said at a news conference in Doral, Fla., during the Democratic National Convention. "I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press."

At the second presidential debate in St. Louis on Sunday, Clinton accused Russia of trying to influence the U.S. election and support Trump through its computer hacking.

"WikiLeaks is part of that, as are other sites where the Russians hack information, we don't even know if it's accurate information, and then they put it out.," Clinton said. "And believe me, they're not doing it to get me elected. They're doing it to try to influence the election for Donald Trump."

Trump refused to accept the U.S. government's findings.

"She doesn't know if it's the Russians doing the hacking," Trump said during the debate. "Maybe there is no hacking. But they always blame Russia. And the reason they blame Russia because they think they're trying to tarnish me with Russia."

Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook