Schmitt's Hawks vs. Hawkeyes mix-up backfires in Smith grilling

Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) stumbled badly Tuesday while trying to link former special counsel Jack Smith to Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, confusing the Atlanta Hawks with the Iowa Hawkeyes in a line of questioning that left Democrats demanding an apology.

The exchange unfolded during Smith's testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, where Schmitt pressed the former prosecutor about an alleged February 2024 trip to Atlanta to watch a Hawks game, suggesting it may have been a cover for coordinating with Willis, who also brought charges against President Trump.

But Smith pushed back, saying he had no recollection of being in Atlanta during that period and insisted he never met Willis.

“I really don't think so. It's possible I flew through the Atlanta airport on the way to Florida, but I do not have a recollection of going to Atlanta. I definitely did not go to a Hawks game,” Smith said.

What did Schmitt claim about Smith's trip to Atlanta?

Schmitt pointed to text messages he said referenced the game, though the board displaying the messages was only briefly shown to the committee. The texts, according to reports, show one prosecutor on Smith's team booking a meeting room and another staffer saying Smith was “already down here.” Notably, the messages did not reference any basketball team names or games.

The Missouri Republican framed the alleged trip as significant because the game he referenced took place the day after Willis revealed her relationship with a staffer, a revelation that sparked intense scrutiny of her Fulton County election interference case.

“Let me just give you a little context. The day before Fannie Willis came clean with her affair with the prosecutor, you know, the Atlanta prosecutor that was also trying to get Trump. The next day, were you in Atlanta?” Schmitt asked.

Smith says he was watching Caitlin Clark play in Maryland

Smith offered a simple explanation: he had attended an Iowa Hawkeyes game in Maryland to watch Caitlin Clark play, a detail that would prove pivotal.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) seized on the discrepancy, suggesting Schmitt may have confused the Atlanta Hawks with the Iowa Hawkeyes.

“Could it then be that University of Iowa is the Hawkeyes? That might be the confusion over the names of the team,” she said.

Schmitt snapped back that Klobuchar was trying to “rehabilitate the witness.”

Klobuchar confirms Smith's alibi and demands apology

After wrapping her questioning, Klobuchar confirmed the facts: the Iowa Hawkeyes played Maryland on February 3, 2024, in Maryland. Iowa won 93-85, and Clark scored over 30 points.

“We have confirmed that, in fact, you are right, Mr. Smith. Iowa, the Iowa Hawkeyes, played Maryland on February 3, 2024. The final score was 93 to 85. Iowa won, and Caitlin Clark scored over 30 points, so it must have been a pretty good game. The game was, in fact, in Maryland, Mr. Smith,” she said.

Klobuchar then called out Schmitt directly for his conduct, noting he had called Smith a “villain” and a “dirtbag” during the hearing.

“And I would just say, for a U.S. senator to have false information and imply, based on a confusion about the name of a team, which I knew, knowing my Midwestern sports, and imply that you were in another city that you were somehow involved that day in what was happening in Georgia and then call you a dirtbag is something that deserves an apology,” she said.

Hirono: 'A false narrative'

Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) also weighed in, saying the panel had been “witness to a narrative, a false narrative of accusing [Smith] of being at a game that you were nowhere near, and I suppose that was supposed to be in furtherance of some sort of conspiracy.”

Schmitt initially refused to again show the text messages he displayed, but relented amid protests from Democrats who argued Smith deserved to see the evidence he was being questioned about.

The episode highlights the perils of aggressive questioning without verified facts, and for Iowa readers, it carries a familiar twist: the Hawkeyes and Caitlin Clark were at the center of a Washington political firestorm.