Sen. Eric Schmitt, a Missouri Republican, appeared to confuse the Iowa Hawkeyes with the Atlanta Hawks in a hearing on Tuesday aimed at characterizing a prosecutor’s investigation into President Donald Trump as political.

Schmitt took aim at former Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith during a Senate Judicial Committee hearing Tuesday in Washington, D.C. Smith brought two criminal cases against Trump, alleging that he attempted to overturn the 2020 election and mishandled classified documents after his first term.

Republicans at the hearing sought to portray Smith as a partisan who abused his authority to target Republicans. But Schmitt appeared to flub one of his key facts when he attempted to place Smith at an Atlanta Hawks game on Feb. 3, 2024. Smith was actually in Maryland attending a women’s NCAA basketball game between the Iowa Hawkeyes and the Maryland Terrapins.

Schmitt, believing he caught Smith committing perjury, asked whether Smith was in Atlanta on Feb. 3, 2024, for an Atlanta Hawks game. Schmitt was attempting to tie Smith to Fani Willis, who launched a criminal investigation into Trump over alleged attempts to influence Georgia election officials.

That day, Willis acknowledged in a legal filing that she had a romantic relationship with the special prosecutor her office hired to handle the case.

“What would you say if I had a series of text messages from your team that said you were in Atlanta at a Warrior Hawks game on February 3, 2024, the day after Willis and (former Fulton County special prosecutor Nathan) Wade announced their affair?” Schmitt said. “I’ll give you a second to process it, so you don’t, you know, perjure yourself.”

Schmitt and Klobuchar butt heads

Staffers for Schmitt briefly displayed a poster of the text message exchange, but quickly took it down before Smith could read it. Smith denied being in Atlanta at the time. Later in the hearing, after he was given a copy of the text messages, he clarified that he was at a University of Maryland game.

“I recall going to a University of Maryland basketball game where Caitlin Clark was playing right around that time,” Smith said.

Schmitt got into a verbal back-and-forth with Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat, who was seeking to clarify where Smith was during the Feb. 3 text exchange. Schmitt accused Klobuchar of “trying to rehabilitate the witness.”

“I think that people should have their facts straight before they accuse someone of being a dirtbag and not get the teams wrong,” Klobuchar responded.

Schmitt doubles down

During the hearing, Schmitt accused Smith of violating Justice Department policies on prosecuting candidates close to an election, highlighted public integrity cases Smith lost against Democrats, and accused Smith of assembling a team of “partisan hacks” to prosecute Trump.

Schmitt closed his remarks comparing Smith to the secret police under Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin and calling him a “dirtbag.” A spokesperson for Schmitt did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

“You may think you’re a hero in this story, but let me tell you something: you’re the villain,” Schmitt said. “You have weaponized the Department of Justice against political enemies to an extent that has never happened in the history of this country. You will go down as a total dirtbag.”

In an appearance on “The Charlie Kirk Show” after the hearing, Schmitt defended the line of questioning.

“It was the only NBA or NCAA men’s game going on at that time in Atlanta. He claimed later that he was at another game,” Schmitt said. “Here’s the thing, my job is to ask the questions, and if that’s what his answer is, that’s what his answer is.”

The exchange came as Schmitt has billed himself as a staunch sports fan. He has posted photos from sporting events and with University of Missouri football coach Eli Drinkwitz. Schmitt is sponsoring a bill to strengthen laws governing name, image and likeness compensation for college athletes.

Earlier that morning, Axios reported that Schmitt was a top contender to be Vice President JD Vance’s running mate in 2028.

_____

©2026 The Kansas City Star. Visit kansascity.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.