Rob Schmitt and Sebastian Gorka criticized a Politico article and its promotion on social media during a discussion that also featured video from a former Department of Homeland Security whistleblower, arguing that the reporting normalized violence while downplaying what they described as large-scale fraud involving taxpayer funds and potential links to terrorism.
Schmitt opened the exchange by citing a post from a Senior Legal Affairs reporter for Politico, which referenced Stand Your Ground laws in the context of journalists investigating alleged Somali-run scam operations in Minneapolis.
“This is the Senior Legal Affairs reporter for Politico posting on x at some point, the amateur effort to knock on doors of home daycares intersects with robust Stand Your Ground laws,” Schmitt said.
“What is being exposed right now is so dangerous for the left, for the Democrat Party, for the people that this fake reporter supports, that he’s essentially hoping that one of these Somali refugees running one of these scam operations in Minneapolis, I guess, shoots reporters that are going to knock on the door.”
Gorka responded by rejecting the comparison drawn in the article and accusing the outlet of distorting self-defense laws.
“Yeah, I’m going to have to take your word for it. Rob that’s an actual real quote from one of these fake news outlets, the idea that you’re conflating what a burglar breaking into your house and being allowed to use deadly force against that burglar, as opposed to a young reporter who is getting to the bottom of billions of dollars of built taxpayer funding,” Gorka said.
He went on to argue that the real wrongdoing lay with those allegedly misusing public funds.
“If there are any burglars in this story, it’s not the young, fearless journalist; it’s the Somali community members who are stealing your taxpayer funds, my taxpayers’ funds, and had signs for their learning centers where they can’t even spell the word learn grammatically correctly,” Gorka said.
Schmitt returned to the Politico reporter’s role, questioning the intent behind the reporting and its political implications.
“This is a Senior Legal Affairs reporter for Politico? And does anything indicate better that the threat that this reporting, that this story has on all the institutions that this he claims to be a reporter, he’s not a reporter. He’s not a reporter. He’s a propagandist for the left in this country, for the Democrat Party,” Schmitt said.
He added that the exposure of alleged fraud threatened broader support for government programs.
“Who is going to want to vote for more government and for bigger safety nets when they see that all of our money is just being lit on fire and just dumped into refugees coming here and scamming us out of billions of dollars?” Schmitt asked.
Gorka argued that the language used in the article amounted to a call to violence.
“Well, look, I think there’s two things that need to be said. Number one, that article that quote, unquote legal expert is doing what the left always does, which is normalizing violence,” Gorka said.
“That’s a dog whistle talking about, stand your ground, legal authorities, that’s about the use of deadly force.”
He framed the issue as one that should concern Americans regardless of politics.
“There can’t be anybody in America who who agrees with what we’re witnessing in these reports,” Gorka said.
“If you’re just a normal human being and you go, hang on a second, this is just wrong. This is my money.”
Schmitt then introduced video from a former Minnesota DHS whistleblower, noting past warnings about the misuse of funds.
“You’re talking about counterterrorism reports for the last month of Somali fraud funds being sent to Al Shabaab,” Schmitt said.
“You have a former Minnesota DHS whistleblower that said, seven years ago, talking about this same issue.”
In the clip, the whistleblower described concerns investigators had following terrorist attacks overseas.
“Every time there was a terrorist attack, Paris, San Bernardino, France, Paris, even the Syrian war, we would as investigators, We would get together the day after the attack, and we would think we would ponder amongst ourselves, how much Minnesota taxpayer dollars was being used to fund that war, that attack, what bought that gun? Where that money come from?” the whistleblower said.
Reacting to the clip, Schmitt called the statement alarming.
“That’s an unbelievable statement from seven years ago, and it makes you realize just how much of this money could have been going to these places,” he said, asking how authorities planned to determine where the funds ended up.
Gorka responded by citing current enforcement efforts and recent arrests. “I’ll quote, I think it was on a news program earlier today on Newsmax, where I saw the Secretary Noem at DHS state, unequivocally, this is going to be one of the largest investigations at DHS,” Gorka said, referring to investigations into alleged fraud involving immigrants and taxpayer funds.
He also referenced a recent case. “Recent arrest in Texas of somebody who has now been charged with material support to ISIS for trying to wire $38 to ISIS,” Gorka said, adding that the broader concern involved “potentially millions of dollars leaving America from those fraudulent entities to fund terrorist organizations abroad.”
“So we have only just begun,” Gorka said.
“We are on the case, and people will face justice.”
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