The Biden administration’s astonishing spying on eight Republican senators and a congressman is part of a years-long conspiracy connected to the Russia hoax and should bring indictments, Missouri Sen. Eric Schmitt says.
“I think indictments are coming,” Schmitt told The Heartlander in an exclusive interview Tuesday.
The Senate Judiciary Committee announced Monday a document obtained by Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, shows Biden special counsel Jack Smith spied on the members’ personal cell phones – ostensibly as part of his “Arctic Frost” investigation into the Jan. 6 Capitol incursion.
“I think that [James] Comey and [James] Clapper and [John] Brennan and others who were part of what started out as Russiagate – but in my view, is likely a conspiracy that went on for nearly a decade – there needs to be accountability there.
“And so, to me, that means indictments. We’ll see what comes of that.
“The revelations on Arctic Frost are chilling. I just think we’ve never seen anything like this in this country. It makes Watergate – it’s 100 times, 1,000 times worse than Watergate. And that took a president down.
“But meanwhile, you had the whole of government weaponized, not just against President Trump, but just because you were a Republican or because you’re a Republican organization, you had specific political views. We’ve never seen anything like that.”
Schmitt says he doesn’t believe the spying was a legitimate part of Smith’s investigation – nor was it an isolated event.
“No, I think they used Jan. 6th as a pretext to do all sorts of illegal things,” Schmitt says. “And then when President Trump announced he was running again, three days later Jack Smith was appointed. Fani Willis in Atlanta went to work. Alvin Bragg went to work. Leticia James went to work.
“I mean, they tried to destroy his family and throw him in jail. And thank God the American people rejected all that. But I think it’s worth noting how close we were: If they’d have been successful, we wouldn’t know any of this stuff. And I just think our country deserves an opportunity now for real accountability.”
As a conspiracy with various targets and tactics spanning years, the various conspirators can be charged with it all, regardless of how much or when they participated in it, argues Schmitt – a former prosecutor and erstwhile Missouri attorney general.
“If you’re part of a criminal conspiracy at mile marker one, and you take the off ramp on mile marker 3, you’re still liable for the wrongdoing of mile marker 10. So, we’re going to see how all this plays out.”
According to Grassley’s release, the FBI spied on the personal cell phones of:
- Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina
- Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tennessee
- Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri
- Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska
- Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Alabama
- Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisconsin
- Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyoming
- Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tennessee
- Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pennsylvania
Again, although the spying was said to be tied to the Jan. 6 incident, Schmitt said he believes it was part of a years-long Democrat-and-deep-state operation to thwart Trump and maintain power for themselves.
Going back to the Russia hoax in 2016.
“Yeah, that’s where it started,” Schmitt says. “I mean, they falsified intelligence information. They knew it was not real. It was concocted by a Soros organization with Hillary Clinton to distract from her email problems.
“Then they opened up an investigation, spied on the Republican nominee. And then, instead of addressing that, once he was elected they further perpetrated it, including Obama. And that, then, was an effort to try to sideline a presidency of a duly elected president.
“Then, of course, you’ve got the FBI involved with the Hunter Biden laptop story suppression. Then, of course, you’ve got the FBI involved with Arctic Frost. And then you’ve got the prosecution of President Trump.
“I mean, this is the ultimate betrayal of the American people. And I just don’t think we should sit by and let that go not responded to.”
The Russia hoax and resulting Mueller investigation is a complex, convoluted series of FBI and CIA actions aimed at smearing and even imprisoning Trump and his supporters – but Schmitt says it’s easily understood.
“Yeah, I think you just lay out the timeline now, right? They were out to get Trump. They hated that he ran. They didn’t like he was going to be a disruptor. They tried to take him out. They couldn’t do it. Then they tried to minimize his presidency with this fake story. Then they tried to make sure he didn’t get reelected. And then they tried to throw him in jail so he couldn’t run again.
“And all the while you got people who, just because they were Republicans or conservatives, were being spied on and targeted by the FBI. That’s a Hollywood script that’d be hard to make up, but it all happened. And it’s like Banana Republic stuff.”
