Missouri Sen. Eric Schmitt accuses Jack Smith of perjury before basketball mix-up emerges
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Missouri Sen. Eric Schmitt accused former special counsel Jack Smith of perjury Tuesday during a tense Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, only for the exchange to turn on an apparent mix-up between basketball teams.
Smith denied attending the game and said he did not believe he was in Atlanta. He also testified that he never met Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis or special prosecutor Nathan Wade, who were prosecuting Donald Trump in Georgia at the time.
Schmitt then said his office had obtained text messages indicating Smith was at a basketball game that day.
“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,” Schmitt told Smith.
After Smith asked to see a poster displaying the messages, Schmitt said Smith had “already sufficiently answered” and added, “I think you’ve already perjured yourself.”
Smith then recalled attending a University of Maryland women’s basketball game against Iowa around the same time, where Caitlin Clark was playing.
“I recall going to a University of Maryland basketball game where Caitlin Clark was playing right around that time,” Smith said.
The game Smith described took place Feb. 3, 2024 — the exact date Schmitt was asking about. Iowa’s Hawkeyes defeated Maryland 93-85 in College Park, Maryland, before a sellout crowd. Clark scored 38 points.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., interjected and asked whether a reference to the “Hawkeyes” could explain the apparent confusion with the Atlanta “Hawks.”
“Perhaps you should have looked at it more carefully,” Klobuchar told Schmitt.
Schmitt objected to Klobuchar interrupting his questioning and maintained that the text messages raised questions about people Smith may have wanted to meet.
“You had the teams wrong, sir,” Klobuchar responded.
Schmitt did not withdraw the perjury accusation during the exchange.
The questioning came during a broader hearing examining Smith’s investigations of Trump.
Republicans accused the former special counsel of abusing his authority and improperly targeting Republicans, while Smith defended the investigations as evidence-based and consistent with Justice Department policy.
