Eric Schmitt's Jack Smith trap backfires over Clark game
Sen. Eric Schmitt tried to corner former special counsel Jack Smith at a Sept. 29, 2026 Senate Judiciary hearing by claiming Smith attended an Atlanta Hawks NBA game tied to Georgia prosecutors — but Smith said he was watching Caitlin Clark’s Iowa Hawkeyes play Maryland that day, and Sen. Amy Klobuchar exposed the team-name mix-up.
The clash, captured in viral clips and covered by Rolling Stone, turned on whether Smith was in Atlanta the day after Fulton County prosecutor Fani Willis publicly addressed a relationship with someone on her team.
Key Takeaways
- Eric Schmitt pressed Jack Smith over an alleged Feb. 3, 2024 Atlanta Hawks NBA appearance.
- Smith said he attended Iowa vs. Maryland that day because Caitlin Clark was playing.
- Sen. Amy Klobuchar confirmed the college game was in Maryland and that Clark scored 30 points.
- Klobuchar said implying Georgia collusion from a Hawks/Hawkeyes mix-up deserved an apology.
- Axios separately noted Eric Schmitt is drawing buzz as a possible JD Vance VP pick for 2028.
What did Eric Schmitt claim about Jack Smith?
Smith, the former Justice Department special counsel, testified Tuesday about his investigation into Donald Trump’s effort to overturn the 2020 election. Schmitt, a Trump ally, sought to link Smith to Georgia officials also probing the president.
His key exhibit was Smith’s supposed presence at a Golden State Warriors–Atlanta Hawks game in Georgia on Feb. 3, 2024. “Did you go to an NBA game between the Golden State Warriors and Atlanta Hawks on February 3, 2024?” Schmitt asked, according to Rolling Stone.
Smith said he did not recall being in Atlanta during the probe, except maybe connecting through the airport. Schmitt briefly displayed enlarged text messages and warned Smith not to perjure himself, then claimed Smith already had.
How did Caitlin Clark end up at the center of it?
After Sen. Amy Klobuchar intervened so Smith could actually read the briefly shown texts, Smith explained he had gone to a University of Maryland–University of Iowa game because Caitlin Clark was playing.
Klobuchar zeroed in on the name confusion: “Could it then be that University of Iowa is the Hawkeyes? Could that be it?” Schmitt objected that she was trying to “rehabilitate the witness.”
Off-camera staff later supplied Klobuchar the game details. She entered into the record that the Feb. 3, 2024 contest was in Maryland and that Clark scored 30 points — not an NBA night in Atlanta.
Why does the mix-up matter for Eric Schmitt?
Klobuchar said a U.S. senator using false information, based on a team-name mix-up, to imply Smith was in another city and somehow involved in Georgia events that day — and to call him a dirtbag — deserved an apology.
Rolling Stone framed the episode as Schmitt’s attempt to land a dramatic blow in a hearing meant to undercut Smith’s Trump investigation. Earlier, Schmitt also interrupted to ask what Smith was jotting down after a warning about future hearings; Smith asked him to repeat the question, and Schmitt dropped it.
The same day, Axios reported Eric Schmitt is drawing buzz as a possible JD Vance running mate in 2028 — raising the stakes for how moments like this travel online. Follow related Capitol Hill buzz in our Future Tech & AI Wonders hub.