Senator Schmitt's basketball query trips up Jack Smith during Georgia probe hearing

In a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Republican Sen. Eric Schmitt pressed former special counsel Jack Smith about a February 3, 2024 Atlanta Hawks-Golden State Warriors game, hoping to connect it to the Fani Willis-Nathan Wade relationship. Smith refuted ever being at that NBA contest, stating his only basketball memory from that date was traveling with U.S. Marshals to a University of Maryland game against Iowa, where Caitlin Clark tallied 38 points.

Schmitt produced messages he claimed placed Smith at the Hawks game and warned him against perjury, but Smith asked to review the evidence. Democrats, led by Sen. Amy Klobuchar, highlighted the schedule also fit the college game and called for a transcript, while Schmitt called Smith a “total dirtbag.” The episode interrupted a broader inquiry into Smith’s probe of President Donald Trump and revived Republican claims of coordination between the White House, Justice Department, and Georgia prosecutors.