FBI director Kash Patel refuted Stephen A. Smith’s suggestion that the agency’s high-profile arrests of an NBA head coach and player amounted to retaliation over league members’ general opposition to President Donald Trump, lambasting the claim as perhaps the “single dumbest thing” he’s ever heard.
The FBI said on Thursday it arrested Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier — and 32 others — in connection with a federal investigation into illegal sports betting and a mafia-backed rigging of poker games. Smith later said the FBI would turn to the WNBA next, claiming that “when you’ve got all of these protests that have been going out there and people have been protesting against him and what have you, this man is coming.”
However, Patel, appearing on Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle” on Thursday, tore into Smith’s claim.
“I’m the FBI director,” he stated. “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, D.C.”
Patel also told host Laura Ingraham that the investigation had gone on for “some time,” a point he said was reflected in its scope. The director wouldn’t say how the FBI was attuned to the players, though the Athletic reported the charges stemmed from an investigation into — and subsequent guilty plea from — former Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter.
“I can’t get into the nature of how we got on to this, but it’s been going on some time,” Patel added. “As you can imagine, ferreting out a system where they literally had scanners at poker tables, where they literally had professional athletes in the NBA walk off the court so their proposition bets could be met, is a coordinated scheme with La Cosa Nostra and the individuals that we arrested today. And it’s been going on for some time.”
