Kash Patel has scolded Stephen A Smith after the ESPN star suggested the FBI’s investigation into Mafia-led illegal sports betting and rigged poker games is politically motivated and backed by President Trump.
The NBA was shaken to its core on Thursday after Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier were arrested along with more than 30 other people.
Rozier is accused of participating in an illegal sports betting scheme, while Billups is charged in a separate indictment relating to an alleged scheme to rig underground poker games that were backed by Mafia families.
Speaking on his show ‘First Take,’ while Patel gave a press conference, Smith claimed the investigation was fueled by Trump and his thirst for revenge.
But later on Thursday, Patel hit back with a brutal put-down of the ESPN host. He told Fox News: ‘I’m the FBI director. I decide which arrests to conduct and which not to conduct.
‘That may be the single dumbest thing I’ve ever heard out of anyone in modern history and I live most of my time in Washington DC.’
Stephen A. Smith alleged the FBI’s explosive NBA investigation is backed by Donald Trump
The ESPN star, who recently signed a $100m contract, delivered his verdict on First Take
Smith, who has flirted with a run for the White House, earlier suggested this investigation was the latest evidence that ‘Trump is coming.’
The ‘First Take’ host claimed: ‘Bad Bunny is performing at the Super Bowl and all of a sudden you’re hearing ICE is going to be there looking to engage in mass deportations.
‘The Super Bowl, disrupting things. Big night for the NBA, Wembanyama put on a show… that has now been smeared because we’re talking about this story.
‘Don’t be surprised if the WNBA is next on his list. When you’ve got all these protests going on out there, protesting against him… this man is coming, he’s coming. I’ve been saying it for a long time.
‘For me, this is the latest nugget of evidence. That’s not to question the legitimacy of the case, we don’t know.
‘But anybody that has been around him, anybody that has talked to him and seen his reactions, from the sports leagues… they are not surprised at what’s going on today.
‘I’m watching a press conference with the Director of the FBI, tell me when we’ve seen that? It’s not coincidental, it’s not an accident, it’s a statement… and it’s a warning that more is coming.
‘In his eyes, folks tried to throw him in jail. In his eyes, he’s innocent and ‘they tried to put me behind bars. I’m getting everybody.’ He’s not playing. Everybody better brace themselves, because he’s coming.’
His comments sparked a furious backlash on social media, with users pointing out that the FBI investigation began well before Trump started his second term in the White House.
Others accused Smith of ‘intentionally making a provocative statement he knows is misleading.’
They claimed: ‘You’d have to live under a rock or be dumb as dirt to believe what he just said. TDS (Trump derangement syndrome) is a real thing.’
