WASHINGTON − A Republican senator accused former special counsel Jack Smith of perjury on Sept. 29 and suggested he was working with Georgia state prosecutors to target President Donald Trump.
The problem? The senator may have gotten the facts wrong by mixing up basketball teams.
The exchange came during a Senate hearing dealing with Smith's time investigating and prosecuting Trump. Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Missouri, asked Smith if he'd attended a professional basketball game between the Golden State Warriors and the Atlanta Hawks on Feb. 3, 2024.
Smith immediately looked confused.
"I have no recollection of that," he responded, saying he didn't remember visiting Atlanta during his time as special counsel, apart from some potential trips through the
airport.
One of the two cases Smith brought as special counsel alleged that Trump illegally tried to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Separately, Georgia state prosecutors brought a criminal case alleging Trump and others conspired to overturn that election's results, including by replacing the presidential electors for Georgia with Trump supporters. That case, along with both of Smith's, were dropped after Trump's 2024 election win.
Schmitt then suggested Smith could have met with Fani Willis, the district attorney in Fulton County, Georgia, about her election interference case against Trump. He noted that news was released around the time of the game that Willis and a special prosecutor on her team, Nathan Wade, had a romantic relationship. That news ultimately led to a court ruling removing Willis from prosecuting the case.
"What would you say if I had a series of text messages from your team," Schmitt said, "that said you were in Atlanta at a Warrior-Hawks game on February 3, 2024, the day after Willis and Wade announced their affair?"
Staff behind Schmitt then put up a poster appearing to show alleged texts among them. But it was taken down in a matter of seconds.
"You just took it down really quick. If I could look at that again?" Smith asked. However, Schmitt declined to display the image again.
"We'll put it in a file. You can respond," Schmitt responded, suggesting he would let Smith see the image sometime after the hearing.
"I think you've already perjured yourself," Schmitt added, accusing Smith of committing a crime by lying to Congress.
Within minutes, Schmitt had also accused Smith of weaponizing the Justice Department in his case against Trump and called him "a total dirtbag."
However, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minnesota, the next senator slated to ask Smith questions, said he deserved a chance to address the accusation.
Smith then said that, while he hadn't been to an Atlanta Hawks game, he did remember going to a University of Maryland basketball game around that time, when then-college breakout star Caitlin Clark was playing in her senior year for the University of Iowa Hawkeyes.
"It was Maryland playing Iowa, I think February 2024," Smith said.
At that point, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minnesota, pointed out that Schmitt seemed to have mistaken the teams.
"That might be the confusion, over the names of the team," she said, before turning to Schmitt, saying, "perhaps you should have looked at it more carefully."
Schmitt quickly defended himself. He said the alleged texts "could have obviously been related" to the Atlanta prosecution, though the connection wasn't immediately clear.
"People should have their facts straight before they accuse someone of being a dirtbag, and not get the teams wrong," Klobuchar shot back.
Schmitt, a former college athlete, played a key role in getting the Senate to pass a major overhaul of college athletics the night before. His office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Republican's apparent basketball mixup derails Jack Smith hearing
