Sen. Eric Schmitt is brushing off his viral mix-up with former special counsel Jack Smith during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday.
Schmitt had accused Smith of perjury after apparently confusing the Atlanta Hawks with the Iowa Hawkeyes while questioning him about a basketball game Smith attended.
“Who knew Jack Smith was a Caitlin Clark fan?” Schmitt told CNN on Tuesday. “We had information he was at a basketball game. There was only one NBA game that night which is why I asked him if he was in Atlanta.”
The mix-up began when Schmitt displayed internal messages from Smith’s security detail that he said showed Smith attended a basketball game on Feb. 3, 2024. Schmitt asked whether Smith had attended a Golden State Warriors-Atlanta Hawks game in Atlanta that night – a location that Schmitt suggested could have indicated a meeting between Smith and Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who was also handling a case against President Donald Trump concerning his efforts to stay in office following his 2020 election loss.
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Smith said he had not attended the NBA game in question – but recalled attending a University of Maryland women’s basketball game against Iowa that night in College Park, Maryland. Women’s basketball superstar Caitlin Clark was playing for the Hawkeyes at the time.
“He answered the question. That’s what these hearings are for. You ask questions, you get answers,” Schmitt said. “Jack Smith has perjured himself before, but he says he’s at the game. Maybe he’s a Caitlin Clark fan. We’ll accept that.”
Schmitt: Who knew jack Smith was a Caitlin Clark fan? We had information he was at a basketball game. There was only one NBA game that night which is why I asked him if he was in Atlanta. He answered the question. That's what these hearings are for. You ask questions, you get… pic.twitter.com/FKwdbvierp
— Acyn (@Acyn) September 30, 2026
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who quickly identified the mix-up and confronted Schmitt, said he owed Smith an apology for accusing him of lying and calling him a “dirtbag” during the hearing.
“Before calling someone a ‘dirtbag,’ the Senator should have had his facts straight,” Klobuchar wrote on X. “An apology is in order.”
Schmitt has not apologized. Asked after the hearing whether he still believed Smith had committed perjury, Schmitt said it would be up to prosecutors.
Other Democrats piled on after the mix-up.
“Somebody didn’t do their homework,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal told The Hill. “I’m a trial lawyer by profession. You get it right, or don’t do it.”
Sen. Adam Schiff said that Schmitt’s information was just “wrong” and criticized him for displaying the messages without initially allowing Smith to examine them.
Sen. Peter Welch mocked the premise of Schmitt’s questioning.
“Going to a basketball game? That’s a sketchy activity for a prosecutor,” Welch said. “Nefarious things are going on.”
Some conservative commentators initially celebrated Schmitt’s questioning. Pro-Trump influencer Benny Johnson posted that Schmitt had “CAUGHT Jack Smith perjuring himself” and “pulled out the receipts,” while Fox News host Sean Hannity highlighted the exchange in a separate post. Both posts were later deleted.
Following the hearing, Schmitt appeared on The Charlie Kirk Show podcast, where host Andrew Kolvet called the exchange a “great moment” and told Schmitt, “Gotta give you some flowers for that, sir.”
Schmitt responded that his job was simply to ask questions and said Smith had “claimed later that he was at another game.”
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