Eric Schmitt grills Jack Smith on Fani Willis, confuses Atlanta Hawks, Iowa Hawkeyes
By: Rebecca Beitsch (The Hill)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Comments: by Rebecca Beitsch - 09/29/26 11:56 AM ET
by Rebecca Beitsch - 09/29/26 11:56 AM ET
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Apparent confusion over team names derailed a line of questioning as Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) grilled former special counsel Jack Smith on Tuesday about his attendance at a basketball game, suggesting the prosecutor may have coordinated with others bringing charges about President Trump.
The exchange would later prompt Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) to say the panel had been "witness to a narrative, a false narrative of accusing [Smith] of being at a game that you were nowhere near, and I suppose that was supposed to be in furtherance of some sort of conspiracy."
Schmitt asked Smith if he had traveled to Atlanta in 2024 to watch an Atlanta Hawks basketball game, alluding to the trip as a chance to meet Fani Willis, the top prosecutor in the city. Willis also brought charges against Trump.
Schmitt said he had texts referencing the game, though a board displaying the messages was only briefly shown by the senator's staff.
Schmitt seemed surprised when Smith said he did not recall going to Atlanta during that time period and also said he did not meet Willis. For his part, Smith seemed puzzled.
"I really don't think so. It's possible I flew through the Atlanta airport on the way to Florida, but I do not have a recollection of going to Atlanta. I definitely did not go to a Hawks game," Smith said.
The significance of the trip from Schmitt's perspective was that the February 2024 game he referenced was the day after Willis revealed she was in a relationship with one of her own staffers, sparking a firestorm of scrutiny around the already high-profile Fulton County election interference case.
"Let me just give you a little context. The day before Fani Willis came clean with her affair with the prosecutor, you know, the Atlanta prosecutor that was also trying to get Trump. The next day, were you in Atlanta?" Schmitt asked.
Smith said he had at one point attended an Iowa Hawkeyes game in Maryland, as he wanted to watch Caitlin Clark play.
Schmitt's questioning ended with the lawmaker calling Smith a "villain" and "dirtbag."
Amid protests from Democrats, Schmitt initially refused to again show the text messages he displayed on the board, prompting some to say Smith deserved to see what he was being asked to respond to. Schmitt later relented.
The text messages show one prosecutor on Smith's team having booked a meeting room only to be told by another staffer that Smith is "already down here." The text messages he displayed don't reference any basketball team names or games, though Schmitt at one point told Smith, "I don't think you know that we have this stuff."
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), who was next in line for questioning, posited that Schmitt may have confused the Atlanta Hawks with the Iowa Hawkeyes.
"Could it then be that University of Iowa is the Hawkeyes? … That might be the confusion over the names of the team," she said.
"That might be the confusion over the names of the team. But perhaps you should have looked at it more carefully."
Schmitt then snapped that Klobuchar was trying to "rehabilitate the witness."
After wrapping her questioning, Klobuchar criticized Schmitt for calling the prosecutor a "dirtbag."
"We have confirmed that, in fact, you are right, Mr. Smith. Iowa, the Iowa Hawkeyes, played Maryland on Feb. 3, 2024. The final score was 93 to 85. Iowa won, and Caitlin Clark scored over 30 points, so it must have been a pretty good game. The game was, in fact, in Maryland, Mr. Smith," she said.
"And I would just say, for a U.S. senator to have false information and imply, based on a confusion about the name of a team, which I knew, knowing my Midwestern sports, and imply that you were in another city that you were somehow involved that day in what was happening in Georgia and then call you a dirtbag is something that deserves an apology."
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Eric Schmitt thought he had Jack Smith is a perjury trap. And then it all went south.
he must've used that maga AI to do his research ...
Humiliating themselves in public is second nature now to a lot of these GOP senators and congresspeople.
they hit pay dirt in demonstrating their willful ignorance long ago ...
Backed by propaganda bots and influencers they do not care. they are preaching to the believers and giving the haters more ammo to smear around. It does not have to be true, it just needs to sound bad about the opposition. Social inertia and bot-words will keep it alive ...or not.
according to most maga media, jack smith was humiliated by senate republicans. fucking gullible maga morons ...
I am still amazed at how stupid and gullible these fucking idiots are
on the flip side, looks like gas and diesel are too expensive for any maga moron trump trains this year ...
The GOP senators beclowned themselves as a group today. Not one of them addressed the facts of Jan 6th and Trumps attempt to steal the 2020 election. They spent their entire time besmirching Jack Smith. It is beyond pathetic.
One of these fools asked Smith if his wife was a Hillary Clinton and Obama fan.
So what if she is?
I suppose they thought it was some incriminating thing, of course it wasnt, but was all they had. None of the Republicans discussed the facts of the indictment of Trump. They cant - they have no defense of Trump in these matters.
Schmitt must be one of the stupidest idiots around, which is a pretty significant achievement considering the level of stupidity of most of the rest of the Republicans in the Senate.
The good thing that came out of this hearing is that the Republicans gave Smith the opportunity to blast Trump repeatedly.
it's been obvious for decades the only requirement needed to be a republican legislator is to vote the way they're told to vote ...
the republican party has pretty much destroyed itself in my state. they've got a maga xtian nationalist and criminal running for governor, a bimbo running for re-election to the house, along with a bunch of other hypocritical thumpers and soon to be forgotten trump dick suckers filling the "R" spots on the ballot. a ballot that now includes a number of carefully worded republican issues that would never see the light of day in the CO legislature.
Mitch McConnell has proven that in spades. Yet he'll probably run for re-election.
mitch demonstrates the republican double standard on the mental capacity required to serve the electorate.
I thought Trump already demonstrated it and Mitch was trying to one up him.
if project 2025 could get the grinning vegetable mitch to walk, they have the perfect republican politician ...
That was hilarious!
I can't understand why any republican legislator would think that debacle could be politically advantageous to them this year. jack smith has continuously foiled their repeated attempts to corner him, all while leaving a trail of teasers working towards the release of the 2nd part of jack smith's report that judge cannon is trying to bury permanently ...
I think Katie Britt is figuring out that it didn't go well.
she just got a peek into the future and is thanking her lucky stars she isn't up for re-election this year ...
Yup.
Also, she should never play poker. Everybody who has seen this pic can read her like a book.
the GOP is starting to seem like a vast wasteland of incompetent lawyers ...
she has the 3 top qualifications to serve as a GOP placeholder. she looks great to the 60+ crowd in the senate, she's loyal to trump over the country, and she votes how she's told to vote by the protectors of criminals, traitors, and pedophiles ...
It is and it isn't. There is absolutely no reason for Jack Smith to be subjected to this persecution by the Republicans.
Agreed. But since they're going to do it anyway, decency be damned, they deserve to have egg on their faces.
... he's a christo-fascist.
He's in the classification of un-Anerican/anti-American. A grave danger to the American way of life.
The fact that no red hat wearers have joined in the conversation to defend Schmitt or the baseless attacks on Smith, who has proven himself time and time again to be above reproach, shows that even they know being this monumentally incompetent and stupid is a bad look for them.
That’s because it is no longer possible to pretend that they aren’t complicit in overthrowing the will of the people to remain in power. Their gig is up, now all they can do is focus on the traitorous task at hand as they dodge the incoming assault that is geared to stop them.
“…overthrowing the will of the people to remain in power.”
Had our required ballot processing training session this morning for the impending election.
Even in my ruby-red rural county, discussed emergency procedures in the event of any attempt to disrupt the people’s right to cast a ballot. I have complete faith in the process, but sadly, have complete confidence that this administration and its enablers will do the unspeakable and do anything they feel compelled to do in order to undermine our democratic birthright.
Dark days lie ahead and we all need to be prepared, and willing, to shine a light on those darkest of motives.
I'm voting early by mail, and then heading over to your side of the hill in anticipation of election interference by trump. it's a much more target rich environment for defense of the constitution than where I'm at, and I won't have to worry as much about the backgrounds when trump voids both the constitution and the rule of law and then calls for every one of his supporters to commit treason by protecting him. it should be obvious by now to anyone with an IQ over 70 points that maga republicans have zero interest in defending the constitution or our democracy.
“..:your side of the hill…”
We’re living the dysfunction every day in these parts. Our county government, city council, and school board are all parroting the same the partisan platforms coming from their leaders.
Not to mention the weekly Saturday parade of thirty plus decked out vehicles honking their way through town. With Victor Marx banners flying.
At least the colors are nearing their peak and the fall weather has been great. Safe travels, friend. Be safe.
These Trump Rs are disgusting. Trump continues to damage our nation in arguably the most corrupt administration in our history and these guys spend their time trying to discredit those who appropriately served this nation honorably by trying to bring Trump to justice.
it's an ongoing exhibition of trump's and his sycophants unamerican disdain towards the US Constitution and the rule of law ...
It is truly pathetic. The Republican performance today was more than disgusting. Not only was Schmitt despicable, when Kennedy jumped in to help hold up their poster he made a complete ass of himself.
kennedy will be the next republican vegetable after mitch that's getting wheeled around and being told how to vote ...
Is Schmitt really that stupid, or does he just play an idiot on TV?
Imagine being this aggressively wrong. What a dumbass - and all over something so basic.
MAGA are unapologetically nasty...
Facebook is still having a blast with this.