Kash Patel blasts Stephen A Smith’s wild claim linking Trump to NBA gambling probe

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: FBI Director Kash Patel publicly criticized ESPN's Stephen A Smith after the top commentator suggested that the FBI’s ongoing investigation into Mafia-led illegal sports betting and rigged poker games was politically motivated and possibly backed by President Donald Trump. 

The public row began after the arrest of more than 30 people, including prominent NBA players.

FBI arrests NBA players

The basketball universe was shaken on Thursday after Portland Trail Blazers top coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat point guard Terry Rozier were arrested, along with several others.

Rozier is accused of an illegal sports bookmaking conspiracy, and Billups is charged in a second indictment in a purported plot to cheat underground poker games. The FBI said the probe uncovered a "decades-long," Mafia-run poker syndicate, supposedly linked to the infamous Gambino, Bonanno, and Genovese crime families. 

This activity has been reported to have included fixed games in areas like Manhattan, the Hamptons, and Las Vegas, with the indictment breaking down threatening messages allegedly sent by Mafia members to their victims.

Stephen A Smith voices 'Trump revenge' theory on 'First Take'

As Patel was giving his press conference, Stephen A Smith utilised his voice on the morning show 'First Take' to claim that the FBI investigation was being motivated by President Trump's alleged thirst for revenge.

Smith, who has been rumored to have a White House run planned in the past, posited that this investigation was the newest bit of evidence showing that ‘Trump is coming.’

Kash Patel brushed aside Stephen A Smith’s assertions

That Thursday evening, Patel gave the ESPN host a stinging rebuff on Fox News. He brushed aside Smith's assertions in a quotation described as a brutal put-down. He said in a quote to 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."

Smith's remarks also elicited a social media backlash, as most users noted that the investigation by the FBI had commenced far earlier than Trump's second term at the White House.

Most critics accused Smith of deliberately issuing a provocative and deceptive remark, with one user saying, “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.” 

Details of the alleged betting and rigging schemes

The Eastern District of New York's US attorney, Joseph Nocella, called the sports betting plot “one of the most brazen sports corruption schemes since online sports betting became widely legalized in the United States.”

There are two cases. Six defendants are charged with using confidential information regarding NBA players and teams. The second case encompasses 31 defendants and the rigging of illegal poker games across the country, using former professional players as bait.

New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch reported that in the sports gambling business, players would sometimes manipulate their play or withdraw from the games prematurely. In a particular case, Rozier, who played for the Hornets, supposedly told individuals that he was going to leave a game prematurely because of a "supposed injury," allowing them to bet and collect substantial winnings.

Billups and Rozier both have money laundering and wire fraud conspiracy charges against them. Rozier was released from the federal court in Orlando, Florida, when a judge rejected the prosecution's request for a $10 million bond and instead demanded that he use his $6 million home in Florida as collateral.

Reportedly, he was also directed to give up his passport and not indulge in any gambling. Billups was released from a Portland federal courthouse on similar terms, including travel restrictions and a ban on gambling. Both men face a return to court in Brooklyn in December.

The indictment outlined the elaborate tactics of the purported poker ring, which used X-ray tables and high-tech contact lenses to read specially marked-up cards, according to reports.

The ring also allegedly employed intimidation tactics, with henchmen threatening and attacking victims who failed to pay their debts, according to damning text messages included in the indictment.

Another former Cleveland Cavaliers player, Damon Jones, was also apprehended and is accused of being part of both the sports betting and the rigged poker operations. He is accused of offering inside NBA information for sports bets and was listed as one of the individuals who acted as a "face card" to entice victims to the rigged poker tables.

The probe also implicated prominent Mafia figures, such as Angelo Ruggiero Jr, son of deceased Gambino captain Angelo 'Quack Quack' Ruggiero Sr, and Bonanno crime family member Ernest 'Ernie' Aiello, both charged with taking "proceeds" of the fixed-up poker games in their respective crime families.