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FBI Director Kash Patel on Thursday called out sports commentator Stephen A. Smith after the pundit suggested the arrests in connection with the NBA sports betting scandal were revenge for perceived anti-President Trump activism.
Speaking with Fox News’s Laura Ingraham, Patel called Smith’s claim, “the single dumbest thing that I have ever heard out of anyone in modern history, and I lived most of my time in Washington D.C.”
“It’s right up there with Adam Schiff,” Patel said, referring to the Democratic senator from California. “We arrest people for crimes.”
After the news of the arrests broke, Smith in an appearance on ESPN gave an ominous warning: “Trump is coming.”
“Bad Bunny is performing at the Super Bowl and all of a sudden you hear that [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] is going to be there looking to engage in mass deportations,” he said as an example. “The Super Bowl. Disrupting things.”
Smith added that it’s “not coincidental” that Patel held a press conference.
“It’s not an accident, it’s a statement,” he said. “And it’s a warning that more is coming. It’s as serious as it gets.”
The ESPN commentator suggested that the president “is not playing.”
“In his eyes, folks tried to throw him in jail,” Smith continued. “In his eyes, he’s innocent. ‘They tried to put me behind bars. I’m getting everybody.’ He’s not playing. Talk to people in the NBA, talk to people in the NFL, talk to people in the world of sports. They think this is the tip of the iceberg.”
Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups and over 30 people were arrested Thursday in connection with two large gambling operations that federal prosecutors said were linked to organized crime families.
During a press conference, Patel said the detainments were part of a years-long investigation conducted across 11 states. The schemes funded La Cosa Nostra, a collection of mafia families, the FBI director said.
“The fraud is mind-boggling,” Patel said. “It’s not hundreds of dollars, it’s not thousands of dollars, it’s not tens of thousands of dollars, it’s not even millions of dollars. We’re talking about tens of millions of dollars in fraud and theft and robbery across a multiyear investigation.”
The indictments include charges of operating an illegal gambling business and conspiracies around wire fraud, money laundering and extortion.
