Missouri AG Eric Schmitt and Scotland County Sheriff Vow to Fight the FBI Trojan Horse Audit

President Joe Biden cannot appoint a head to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms who will pass Senate confirmation. Despite having signed supposed gun-control legislation into law, Biden and his handlers know that this will not limit the rights of gun owners, especially in light of the recent Supreme Court Bruen decision. As the Biden administration wages its campaign against lawful gun owners, many states are working to dismantle obstacles to their citizens’ freedoms. The number of states who have sanctioned permitless and open carry of firearms is growing, as are those who declare themselves 2A sanctuary cities.

Missouri is one of those states that has taken specific actions to strengthen Second Amendment rights for its citizens. But it appears the Biden administration is now weaponizing the FBI to try and circumvent state’s rights with an audit of selected sheriff’s offices within the state.

From Fox News:

Missouri officials are slamming a planned FBI audit of various sheriff’s offices in the state, saying the audit is an attempt “to illegally obtain” information on concealed carry permit holders. One sheriff, in particular, said that even under a threat of federal arrest, he will not comply and release the concealed carry information.

“As the sheriff of Scotland County, I want all my citizens to know that I will not allow, cooperate or release any CCW information to the FBI, ‘even at the threat of a federal arrest,’” Republican Scotland County Sheriff Bryan Whitney wrote to residents of his community on Monday.

“Point Blank, ‘I will go down with the ship if need be,’” the letter, which was reviewed by Fox News Digital on Tuesday, said.

Whitney said he was prompted to send the letter to his community in northeastern Missouri after he was alerted to the FBI audit set to be carried out in 24 counties in Missouri next month. It’s unclear which counties will be included in the audit.

Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt also demanded that the FBI “cease their attempts to illegally obtain information from local sheriffs on Missourians who have concealed carry permits,” and sent a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray on the matter last week.

“The FBI has absolutely no business poking around in the private information of those who have obtained a concealed carry permit in Missouri,” Schmitt said, according to a press release. “The Second Amendment rights of Missourians will absolutely not be infringed on my watch. I will use the full power of my Office to stop the FBI, which has become relentlessly politicized and has virtually no credibility, from illegally prying around in the personal information of Missouri gun owners.”

Schmitt outlined to Wray that under Missouri law it is illegal to share the confidential list with the federal government. The law was passed after “it became known that the Obama Administration wanted to know which Missourians had firearms, supposedly to establish who was entitled to federal benefits.”

According to Fox News, the FBI plans to take a “small sampling of system transactions” in order to inspect them for compliance with the Criminal Justice Information Services Division systems. The FBI is looking to ensure the system is not being misused. In the past, these audits have been the routine course of business.

“At no point would auditors require access to lists such as state approved concealed carry holders, nor would the CJIS Division retain information beyond what is necessary to address a specific compliance concern,” the FBI continued in its statement, adding that the state has “been through this routine audit multiple times, most recently in 2018.”

But with the targeted attacks against red states whose elected leaders are standing against the progressive agenda of this administration, both the sheriff and AG Schmitt are leery of the Feds’ motives.

But to Whitney, he said he doesn’t believe the FBI’s statement “to be accurate,” and added later in his interview with Fox News Digital that trust in the FBI among Missourians has cratered.

Schmitt also argued in his letter to Wray that Missourians’ trust in the FBI is at an “all-time low.”

Schmitt continues to establish his record as a fighter for Missouri and for the nation. He refuses to back down from a fight — and is often the one bringing the fight to the adversarial Biden administration.

Sheriff Whitney is in concert with AG Schmitt and his efforts to protect Missourians’ constitutional right to bear arms. Whitney told Fox News that he plans to move Missourians’ CCW information to a secure server should the FBI decide to do some backdoor surveillance.

Whitney also spoke about the California data breach, which exposed the personal information of California CCW holders. He cited this as “one of the exact reasons” he will not allow the FBI access should they audit his county.