Columbia News

U.S. Senator Eric Schmitt (R-MO) spoke at a press conference in Washington, D.C., alongside other Senate Republicans to criticize the Biden administration for what he described as the politicization of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The comments were made in response to revelations about “Operation Arctic Frost,” an FBI investigation that reportedly targeted conservative lawmakers and organizations, including the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA) during Schmitt’s tenure as its chairman.

Senator Schmitt drew comparisons between the alleged actions of the FBI and historical political scandals. “In this instance, I can’t think of a bigger political scandal in the last 100 years. If you want to compare it to Watergate, this is one-hundred times worse than Watergate, and here’s why. […] Three days after President Trump announced he was running for president, the system was weaponized against him,” Schmitt said.

He criticized special counsel Jack Smith, saying: “Jack Smith, who is notorious in prosecutor world as being a Stalin-like ‘show me the man, I’ll show you the crime’ prosecutor. That’s the guy you appoint when you want to get your political opponent. He’s a dirt bag, and I hope he comes before [the Senate Judiciary] Committee.”

Schmitt also alleged that Smith's investigation extended beyond former President Trump: “He not only went after President Trump, he went after sitting senators. At the time, I was the chairman of the Republican Attorneys General Association. Ashley Moody was also on the executive board. He came after us, and also hundreds of other people who happened to be Republicans in the United States of America.”

Calling for accountability measures in response to these developments, Schmitt stated: “There has to be accountability. The American people have heard a lot about this, and you’re going to hear more. We should have Watergate-style hearings on this for months. If we’re ever going to root this out, we must be serious about it, and consequences must follow — resignations, firings, criminal prosecutions.”

Schmitt concluded by warning against using law enforcement agencies for political purposes: “You simply can’t — in this country — use the justice system to throw people in jail because they have a red jersey or a blue jersey on. It’s completely unacceptable.”

He further commented on perceptions regarding former President Trump’s return: “But they never forgave President Trump from coming down the escalator in the first place. That’s what this whole thing is about. They can’t actually believe they’re in the position now [and] that the American people sent [President Trump] back. And if he didn’t win […] we would never know any of this stuff. It’s just the mere fact that he won and delivered a historic political comeback that nobody alive today has ever seen.”