Hawks? Hawkeyes? Schmitt in probing Smith mistakes basketball mascots

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Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo, seated right, with Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., standing right, during a discussion about text messages with former special counsel Jack Smith, as Smith testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill, in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026, as they probe his investigation of President Trump. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) goes up to shoot a 3-point basket against Las Vegas Aces forward Brianna Turner, front left, during the first half in Game 1 of an WNBA basketball first-round playoff series Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Steve Marcus) — Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo, seated right, with Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., standing right, during a discussion about text messages with former special counsel Jack Smith, as Smith testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill, in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026, as they probe his investigation of President Trump. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

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4:20 PM on Tuesday, September 29

By THOMAS BEAUMONT

In Sen. Eric Schmitt's effort to trip up former Trump prosecutor Jack Smith on Tuesday, the Missouri Republican seemed to mistake basketball teams playing about 650 miles apart.

Schmitt accused Smith of perjuring himself during a Senate hearing after repeatedly prodding him about whether he'd attended an NBA game in Atlanta on the evening of Feb. 3, 2024. The hometown Hawks were playing the Golden State Warriors.

Schmitt appeared to be trying to set Smith in Atlanta at the time Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis was facing scrutiny for her romantic relationship with Nathan Wade, the special state prosecutor she hired for the county's election-interference case against Trump.

“So your testimony today is that you did not go to a Hawks game on Feb. 3, 2024. Is that correct?” Schmitt asks sharply. “What would you say if I had a series of text messages from your team that said you were in Atlanta at a Warriors-Hawks game on Feb. 2, 2024?”

Smith said he didn't think he had visited Atlanta as special prosecutor, and was even more certain he hadn't attended an Atlanta Hawks game.

He did, however, recall attending a University of Iowa women's game at the University of Maryland on Feb. 3, 2024, recalling the game as one where then-Iowa star Caitlin Clark was playing.

“Could it then be that the University of Iowa was the Hawkeyes?” Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota interjected. “Perhaps you should have looked at it more carefully.”