COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — A Republican state legislator known for his outlandish and offensive statements is claiming that the FBI was behind the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.
State Rep. Scott Bottoms (R-Colorado Springs) did not offer any evidence to support the claim, which he made last Sunday from the pulpit of his Church at Briargate, where he is the lead pastor.
“I believe it’s the FBI,” Bottoms told parishioners.
“I’m not talking about the Democratic Party,” Bottoms said. “I’m talking about the people that are controlling our country. The people that have been controlling the FBI, controlling the State Department.”
Bottoms said the only reason the FBI plot didn’t kill Trump is because the former President is protected by God.
“This is just the beginning,” Bottoms said. “They need that man dead.”
Bottoms claimed, without evidence, that the November presidential election will not be held if Trump is not killed by then.
“We’re not gonna have a presidential election,” Bottoms said. “If he’s still alive and he’s not in jail, we’re not gonna have an election.”
In 2022, Bottoms told the Colorado Sun that the FBI “lured” the Jan. 6 insurrectionists into attacking the U.S. Capitol, in an interview where he also repeated QAnon conspiracy theories.
During previous sermons at the Church at Briargate, Bottoms has said that Jewish Israelis held captive by Hamas should turn to Jesus to be saved and that the Palestinian people are a “made up thing” and a “terrorist organization.”
In January 2024, Bottoms was reprimanded by the Democratic House speaker for calling fellow legislators “pedophiles.”
Despite Bottoms’ extremism, he remains a close ally of Colorado Republican Party Chairman Dave Williams, who gathered with supporters at Bottoms’ church to watch his blowout GOP primary loss in Colorado’s 5th Congressional District on June 25.