ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith falsely claimed Thursday that an FBI investigation into illegal gambling by several members of the NBA that started in 2022 under the Biden administration is somehow Donald Trump’s revenge against the league.
Smith disgorged his claims on ESPN’s First Take on Thursday, where he claimed that Trump “is coming” to arrest and imprison anyone who disagrees with him — which was the practice during the Biden years.
On Thursday, Trump’s FBI chief, Kash Patel, announced that Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier are among 31 people arrested in a probe of a gambling ring that is reportedly connected to organized crime.
Smith, though, was all spun up over his imagined idea that Trump was somehow enacting revenge on the NBA for its vehement opposition to him.
“Remember, Trump has a long, long history connected to the world of sports because he had those casinos,” Smith said as he launched his absurd take on the story of the arrests. “Where do you think folks were coming half the time? I’m not talking about individuals, I’m talking about the culture. When people want to go to a casino, when people wanna gamble, when people wanna party, or whatever the case may be, this was his kind of connection to that.”
“Don’t be surprised if the WNBA is next on his list, because 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,” Smith continued. “He’s coming.”
“I’m watching a press conference with the director of the FBI. Tell me when we’ve seen that,” he blathered on. “We’ve seen accusations before. We’ve seen athletes get in trouble with the law before. You don’t see the director of the FBI having a press conference. 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 [Trump] in jail. In his eyes, he’s innocent, and ‘they’re trying to put me behind bars. I’m getting everybody.’ He’s not playing,” he exclaimed.
He concluded with an over-the-top warning, saying, “This is just the tip of the iceberg. It’s very concerning. We don’t know where this is gonna go. But everybody better brace themselves, because he’s coming.”
Smith is either entirely ignorant of the facts of this case or deliberately obscuring them. The point is, this investigation was started by the Biden FBI in 2022. According to reports, “Operation Royal Flush” began in 2021 or 2022 during the Biden administration. Meaning, Trump’s administration didn’t launch the probe for anything like “revenge” and merely followed up on the Biden administration’s ongoing probe.
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