Trump Foreign Policy Adviser: The Holocaust Ovens Were ‘Too Small To Kill 6 Million Jews’

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Between news of New Jersey forgiving $25 million in tax debt and a maligned surrogate who gained notoriety for acting childish on live television, Donald Trump isn’t having the best week. Then again, the Republican presidential nominee hasn’t had that many good weeks since the GOP held its convention in Cleveland, and it doesn’t look like it’s going to get any better. Especially since allegations of anti-Semitism were brought against Joseph Schmitz, one of five foreign policy advisers named by Trump in March. If true, this wouldn’t be the first time for anyone affiliated with Trump’s campaign — let alone the Donald himself.

According to McClatchyDC, the accusations against Schmitz stem from his time as the Defense Department inspector general during the 2000s. Senior intelligence official Daniel Meyer relayed this information in an official complaint. Among other things, Schmitz apparently bragged about firing, or pushing out, Jewish employees:

“His summary of his tenure’s achievement reported as ‘…I fired the Jews,’ ” wrote Meyer, a former official in the Pentagon inspector general’s office whose grievance was obtained by McClatchy.

Meyer himself didn’t actually hear or see any direct evidence of Schmitz’s comments. They were actually observed by John Crane, a former Pentagon official, who reported such things as the former DD official’s opinion on whether or not the Holocaust was all that bad:

“In his final days, he allegedly lectured Mr. Crane on the details of concentration camps and how the ovens were too small to kill 6 million Jews,” wrote Meyer.

In the course of McClatchyDC’s investigation, Meyer and Crane refused to comment on the substance of the complaint. Schmitz, however, was all too happy to deny the allegations in an interview.

He specifically argued the claims were “preposterously false and defamatory because, among other reason(s), I am quite proud of the Jewish heritage of my wife of 38 years.” Though when pressed for more details about his wife’s heritage, Schmitz admitted she was only “ethnically Jewish,” and that neither of them were religiously active.

(Via McClatchyDC)

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