Full Breakdown
Senator Eric Schmitt’s Failed Basketball-Game Questioning at Senate Hearing
By Drooid · · How we work
Senate Hearing Misstep
On September 29, 2026, Republican Senator Eric Schmitt confronted former special counsel Jack Smith during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in Washington, D.C. Schmitt presented large posters containing text-message excerpts that he said proved Smith had lied about attending an Atlanta Hawks game on the night of a high-profile basketball event. The senator’s line of questioning aimed to link Smith to Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who was overseeing the Georgia election-interference probe into former President Donald Trump.
Text Message Evidence and Misidentification
The messages displayed were obtained by The Hill and covered a span from mid-2023 to mid-2024. They showed Smith’s staff coordinating seat assignments for a women's college basketball game, not an NBA contest. A deputy, JP Cooney, wrote, “We are in 201. High; but center court. I will swing down at half to say hello,” indicating the setting was a women’s game in Maryland where star player Caitlin Clark was playing.
Schmitt’s team had focused on the date of the alleged Hawks game and searched only NBA and men’s-college schedules, overlooking the University of Maryland-Iowa women’s matchup that actually drew Smith’s attendance.
Official Responses
A spokesperson for Senator Schmitt told The Hill that the senator had never seen the texts mentioning Clark, explaining his question about Smith’s whereabouts. The spokesperson added that Schmitt and Smith share “a fan of college sports.”
A source reported to MS NOW that Schmitt had been warned his staff had not properly vetted the communications, noting that a simple Google search would have revealed that the cited seat number does not exist at State Farm Arena, the Hawks’ home venue.
Verbatim Quotes
- “We are in 201. High; but center court. I will swing down at half to say hello,” — JP Cooney
- “P.s. Caitlin Clark on tonight at 8pm on ESPN.” — David Harbach
Aftermath and Personnel Changes
The episode prompted internal fallout. Ethan Harper, Schmitt’s general counsel who displayed the posters, was slated to leave his role for a position in the White House Staff Secretary’s office, according to sources familiar with Politico’s West Wing Playbook. The incident has been described as a “humiliating flop” in commentary, highlighting the risks of insufficient fact-checking in high-stakes congressional inquiries.