Sen. Eric Schmitt Probes Smith’s Basketball Mascot Mix-Up
Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., seated at right, listens as Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., stands nearby during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing featuring former special counsel Jack Smith on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026. Lawmakers were examining Smith’s investigation into President Trump. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Sen. Eric Schmitt’s attempt to corner former Trump prosecutor Jack Smith during Tuesday’s hearing took an unexpected turn when the Missouri Republican appeared to confuse basketball teams and locations roughly 650 miles apart.
Schmitt accused Smith of perjury after repeatedly questioning him about whether he attended an NBA game in Atlanta on Feb. 3, 2024. The Atlanta Hawks were scheduled to play the Golden State Warriors.
The line of questioning appeared aimed at placing Smith in Atlanta while Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis was under scrutiny over her romantic relationship with Nathan Wade, the special prosecutor she hired for the county’s election-interference case against Trump.
“So your testimony today is that you did not go to a Hawks game on Feb. 3, 2024. Is that correct?” Schmitt asked. “What would you say if I had a series of text messages from your team that said you were in Atlanta at a Warriors-Hawks game on Feb. 2, 2024?”
Smith said he did not believe he had traveled to Atlanta while serving as special counsel and was even more certain that he had not attended an Atlanta Hawks game.
He did remember attending a University of Iowa women’s basketball game at the University of Maryland on Feb. 3, 2024. Smith recalled that then-Iowa star Caitlin Clark played in the matchup.
“Could it then be that the University of Iowa was the Hawkeyes?” Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar interjected. “Perhaps you should have looked at it more carefully.”
