New Evidence Shows Just How Badly One Republican Senator Beclowned Himself in the Jack Smith Hearing

TPM has found fairly definitive evidence proving Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO) misread text messages when he attempted to corner former special counsel Jack Smith during a congressional hearing on Tuesday. 

Schmitt used his time to present an elaborate conspiracy theory based on the idea that text messages showed Smith was at an Atlanta Hawks basketball game in Georgia on a particular day in 2024. There, the senator insinuated, Smith met with Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney Fani Willis, who was pursuing her own case against Trump. Smith insisted he had never been to a Hawks game, and another senator at the hearing speculated that Schmitt was confusing the NBA team with the University of Iowa Hawkeyes. Nevertheless, Schmitt persisted and suggested the text messages showed a nefarious meeting in Atlanta. 

A close read of the texts, however, shows the entire theory is based on a location that simply does not exist. 

The strange saga unfolded as Smith, who led criminal probes into President Donald Trump’s handling of classified documents and efforts to fight his loss in the 2020 election, was testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee, responding to allegations from Trump and other Republicans that his investigations were politically motivated. Despite the fact Smith and his team uncovered — among other things — boxes of classified documents stored in a bathroom at Trump’s private club and many of the communications GOP lawmakers engaged in as they planned efforts to overturn the 2020 race, Republican senators spent Tuesday’s hearing echoing Trump’s claims that Smith’s work was proof the federal government had been “weaponized” against him. 

And none of them went harder than Schmitt. 

The senator’s effort to expose Smith began with a seemingly out of the blue question.

“Did you go to an NBA game between the Golden State Warriors and the Atlanta Hawks on February 3, 2024?” Schmitt asked.

Smith, who appeared confused, had Schmitt repeat the question. 

 “What city would that be in?” Smith asked. 

Once the query was repeated, Smith replied that he did not believe he had been to a Hawks game. Smith further said he did not think he had been in Atlanta during his time as special counsel. 

“It’s possible I flew through the Atlanta airport … but I do not have a recollection of going to Atlanta,” Smith said, adding, “I definitely did not go to a Hawks game. I’m sure of that.” 

Schmitt was undeterred. He went on to indicate that he believed Smith was at the game in Atlanta to meet with Willis, who had her own criminal case against Trump, and her colleague, Nathan Wade. Schmitt pointed out that the pair admitted to having a romantic relationship the day before the all-important Hawks game against the Warriors. The senator then asked Smith if he had met with Wade or Willis. Smith was adamant that he had not.

“No,” Smith said. 

Then, Schmitt made his big reveal. He turned to visual aids as a staffer standing behind him helped display a poster board with graphic representations of text messages between staff in Smith’s office. 

“What would you say if I had a series of text messages from your team that said you were in Atlanta at a Warrior/Hawks game on February 3, 2024, the day after Willis and Wade announced their affair?” Smith said with a smirk. 

Before putting aside the poster board, Schmitt confidently suggested that Smith had lied in front of Congress when he denied having been to the game. 

“I don’t think you know that we have this stuff, so I’ll give you a second to process it so you don’t, you know, perjure yourself,” he said to Smith. 

The poster board in question showed a message dated February 3, 2024 from Smith’s deputy special counsel J.P. Cooney asking another man, “Is 109 Row 1 reserved for Jack?”

That message, TPM found, actually makes clear that Smith’s colleagues were not talking about an Atlanta Hawks game. The Hawks and the Warriors did play against each other on the evening in question at State Farm Arena in Atlanta. However, seating maps on multiple ticketing sites show that State Farm Arena uses alphabetical convention for rows in section 109 rather than a numerical system. Social media posts from fans also indicate this system was in place in 2024. 

In other words, there was no “109 Row 1” at the game Schmitt was fixated on.

Schmitt and his office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from TPM. The senator’s display began to unravel in real time at the hearing as multiple other lawmakers asked him to hold up the poster board a bit longer. Schmitt claimed it wasn’t necessary and argued he had already exposed Smith.

“We’ll put it in a file. You can respond. I think you’ve already perjured yourself,” Schmitt said to Smith. 

He then issued closing remarks casting Smith as a “villain.” 

“You will go down as a total dirtbag,” Schmitt said to the former special counsel. 

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), who was next to speak, did not move on from the Atlanta Hawks imbroglio. She references Schmitt’s experience as a former attorney general as she insisted Smith have a chance to see the supposed evidence against him. 

“Allow the witness to see this vast posterboard that we saw. … I’m a former prosecutor too and I have never seen anyone just say, ‘What do you think of this?’ and put it down,” she said, gesturing with her hand to mimic the hastily removed display. 

As soon as he had a chance to read the sign, Smith offered an explanation. He claimed Schmitt had the wrong basketball game. 

“I think I could address it … if this is the correct basketball game, I recall going to a University of Maryland basketball game where Caitlin Clark was playing right around that time,” Smith said. “You could check if that was the exact date. It was Maryland playing Iowa, I think, February of 2024.” 

The University of Maryland Terrapins women’s basketball team did indeed play the University of Iowa Hawkeyes on February 3, 2024. At the time, Caitlin Clark, who is now a star with the WNBA’s Indiana Fever, was on her way to breaking the all-time college scoring record and tickets to her games were in high demand. Clark scored 38 in that matchup against the Terrapins, which was played at the Xfinity Center. Unlike Atlanta’s State Farm Arena, ticketing sites show the arena in Maryland has a section 109 with numerical rows. There is actually a seat like the one described in the text messages at the game Smith said he attended. 

After hearing Smith’s initial explanation, Klobuchar suggested Schmitt may have confused two team names — Hawks and Hawkeyes — after reading the messages. She also reprimanded Schmitt for the apparent error. 

“Could it then be that University of Iowa’s the Hawkeyes?” Klobuchar asked. “That might be the confusion over the names of the team, but perhaps you should have looked at it more carefully.”

Even as his conspiracy theory began to collapse, Schmitt doubled down. He falsely claimed the messages, which simply described a seat that doesn’t exist in Atlanta, showed Smith was having a meeting in that city where he somehow improperly coordinated with other prosecutors.  

“I presented him with text messages about him wanting to meet with people! That could have obviously been related to the prosecution that was coordinating with his office in Atlanta,” Schmitt said. 

Klobuchar was unmoved. 

“Teams,” she said. “You had the teams wrong, sir.”

But Schmitt continued to double down in an appearance on the “Charlie Kirk Show,” the former broadcasting home of the late, far-right activist, immediately after the hearing. Beaming into that program following an ad for “meat delivery,” Schmitt joined host Andrew Kolvet, who praised his work in the hearing. He also amplified Schmitt’s conspiracy theory even though it had already begun to fall apart. 

“Jack Smith is a total dirtbag and you caught him out on this NBA game … in Atlanta,” Kolvet said to Smith. “It was a great moment. Good for you on that.”

Schmitt described Smith as “the epitome of what the weaponization of government is all about” and suggested he had proved the special counsel engaged in “coordination” with other prosecutors. 

“Dang,” said a giggling Kolvet. “You had text messages from his team confirming that he was going to a Hawks game and he sat there acting dumbfounded and completely clueless.”

Schmitt acknowledged Smith had denied the allegation before descending into an utter word salad. 

“It was the only NBA or NCAA men’s game going on at that time in Atlanta. He claimed later that he was at another game,” Schmitt said. “I don’t — you know here’s the thing — my job is to ask the questions. He’s already — and if that’s what his answer is — then that’s what his answer is.”

Schmitt went on to say it was his job to simply “be aggressive” and press Smith.

“The purpose of today is just to get him to answer a bunch of questions,” Schmitt said. 

Yet this question was, by all appearances, based on a seat that doesn’t exist, two teams with similar names, and a seemingly misread text message. 

In an especially hilarious twist, Schmitt’s gaffe comes as Republicans have made their supposed interest in protecting women’s sports a cornerstone of their anti-trans political agenda. The right wing has particularly fixated on Clark and the WNBA while targeting trans people. Of course, their actual level of interest in women’s athletics has always seemed exaggerated since there are no trans players in the WNBA. This episode where Schmitt seemingly was unaware of Clark’s recordsetting quest or even her team’s name adds to the evidence the GOP is not seriously engaged with women’s sports. However, during the course of his “Charlie Kirk Show” interview, Schmitt and the hosts did actually tout the Republican agenda on athletics. 

“We’re big sports fans around here,” Kolvet said.

Sure thing guys. We’ll see you in the (non-existent) stands.