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Eric Schmitt’s Jack Smith ‘Gotcha’ Moment Explodes Into Viral Basketball Blunder Caitlin Clark
A Republican senator’s attempt to challenge former special counsel Jack Smith during a tense congressional hearing quickly turned into an unexpected basketball mix-up, after the evidence appeared to confuse the Atlanta Hawks with the Iowa Hawkeyes.
Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Missouri, questioned Jack Smith on Tuesday about whether he had attended an Atlanta Hawks NBA game on Feb. 3, 2024. Schmitt suggested the alleged trip to Atlanta could have connected Smith with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who was involved in the criminal case against Donald Trump.
Eric Schmitt told Jack Smith he had information indicating he attended the game and warned him about giving false testimony. Smith, however, denied being at an NBA game in Atlanta.
The exchange soon took an entirely different turn.
Jack Smith Says He Was Watching Iowa, Not Atlanta
Smith said he attended a women’s college basketball game between the University of Maryland and the University of Iowa in College Park, Maryland.
That game took place on the same date Eric Schmitt was investigating. Iowa’s team is known as the Hawkeyes, while Atlanta’s NBA team is the Hawks.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minnesota, quickly pointed to what appeared to be the source of the confusion during the hearing.
The Iowa-Maryland game was held in College Park, roughly 550 miles from Atlanta, and Iowa won 93-85, with Caitlin Clark scoring 38 points. Meanwhile, the Atlanta Hawks hosted the Golden State Warriors on the same date.
The Washington Post reported that the apparent mix-up quickly became a major online talking point after Eric Schmitt’s attempted confrontation unraveled.
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Schmitt Refuses to Let the Moment Go
Rather than abandoning the issue, Eric Schmitt later maintained that the information he had raised still justified his questions.
Speaking afterward, he said his role was to ask questions and receive answers. He also joked that Smith might simply be a Caitlin Clark fan.
The senator had accused Jack Smith of perjury during the hearing and later described him as a “total dirtbag,” according to reporting on the exchange. Amy Klobuchar later argued that Eric Schmitt should apologize because the premise of his questioning was wrong.
The controversy intensified when prominent conservative commentators initially celebrated Schmitt’s questioning on social media. Reports said posts from figures including Benny Johnson and Fox News host Sean Hannity were later deleted after the basketball confusion became apparent.
Viral Moment Overshadows Serious Hearing
The basketball dispute briefly eclipsed the broader purpose of the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, which examined Smith’s investigations involving Trump.
Republican senators have questioned Smith’s investigative methods and decisions involving the former president. Schmitt’s Atlanta theory focused on whether Smith traveled to Georgia and potentially interacted with Willis or other prosecutors.
Smith denied meeting Willis or Nathan Wade during his tenure as special counsel and said he did not recall visiting Atlanta in that capacity, other than possibly traveling through the city’s airport.
The episode nevertheless produced one of the hearing’s most widely circulated moments: a high-stakes accusation built around an Atlanta Hawks game that Smith said he never attended, followed by his explanation that he had instead watched Iowa’s Hawkeyes play in Maryland.
For Eric Schmitt, what began as an attempt to challenge Jack Smith’s credibility became a viral debate over whether the senator had mistaken one basketball team for another.
