Senator’s attempted ‘gotcha’ about a game backfires when a colleague corrects his team mix-up

A Senate Judiciary Committee exchange intended to catch former special counsel Jack Smith in a contradiction instead highlighted a misstep by Republican Sen. Eric Schmitt. Schmitt pressed Smith about attending a Golden State Warriors–Atlanta Hawks NBA game on Feb. 3, 2024. Smith said he had no recollection of attending such a game and asked what city the question referenced. Schmitt replied "Atlanta."

Schmitt then presented text-message screenshots on a posterboard as evidence. The board was removed quickly, drawing complaint that senators and the witness had no time to view it. Schmitt used the brief display to accuse Smith of perjury and to assert Smith had coordinated with Fulton County prosecutors.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who followed Schmitt in questioning, asked that the posterboard be shown again. When the text was displayed for a longer period, it became clear the messages did not name Atlanta or an NBA team. Klobuchar suggested the confusion might be between the Atlanta Hawks and the University of Iowa Hawkeyes, which were playing in February 2024 and would explain the reference to a game without placing Smith in Atlanta.

The text messages Schmitt presented reportedly related to seating arrangements for a game, but the displayed snippets did not explicitly name the Hawks or Atlanta. Media follow-ups noted that the texts behind the GOP senator's display did not clearly identify a team or city. That gap mattered because Schmitt's claim depended on connecting Smith to an Atlanta event tied to Fulton County prosecutions.

Republican senators have been using the hearing to challenge Jack Smith's conduct in the Trump-related investigations, arguing he overstepped his role. Schmitt's line of questioning attempted to show inappropriate coordination between Smith and Fulton County prosecutors. The failure to establish the basic fact — that Smith was at an Atlanta Hawks game — weakened that specific attack and drew attention to sloppy evidentiary tactics during a high-profile hearing.

News outlets and commentators circulated video of the exchange. Follow-up reporting flagged Schmitt's mix-up between an NBA team and a college team as the core error. Some outlets described the moment as an embarrassing misfire for Schmitt, and reporters followed up with questions to the senator about what happened in the hearing.