Sen. Eric Schmitt’s attempt to impeach former Special Counsel Jack Smith over attendance at a Feb. 3, 2024 basketball game misfired after texts shown in a Senate hearing did not identify any team. Smith was recorded at an Iowa Hawkeyes women’s game in Maryland that night, about 550 miles from the Atlanta Hawks. Sources say Schmitt’s staff searched only NBA and men’s college schedules and failed to vet the messages; the episode may have imperiled a planned White House promotion for Schmitt’s counsel.
Schmitt’s 'Gotcha' Backfires — Texts Don’t Tie Jack Smith to Hawks Game; Counsel’s Promotion Now In Doubt
Nathan Howard / REUTERS
Republican Sen. Eric Schmitt faced renewed embarrassment after text-message screenshots he used during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing failed to prove former Special Counsel Jack Smith attended an Atlanta Hawks game on Feb. 3, 2024. Reporting shows Smith was actually in Maryland at an Iowa Hawkeyes women's basketball game featuring Caitlin Clark — roughly 550 miles from Atlanta — and online video places him in the stands that night.
Eric Schmitt looks at posters with seat numbers of a women's basketball game. / Evan Vucci / REUTERS
What Schmitt Presented
At the hearing, Schmitt displayed large posters with excerpts of texts intended to undercut Smith’s testimony and suggest improper coordination with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. The senator suggested Smith had lied when he said he was not at a Hawks game that evening.
Schmitt failed in his attempt to catch Jack Smith out. / Evan Vucci / REUTERS
What The Texts Actually Show
Reporting by The Hill indicates the messages Schmitt relied upon did not mention the Hawks, the Hawkeyes, Atlanta, or any specific team. Instead, the texts chiefly referenced logistics — seat locations and plans to meet up — and included a later, unrelated late-March note from a prosecutor referencing Caitlin Clark on TV.
Jack Smith, former special counsel at the Justice Department, testifies before a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., US, September 29, 2026. / Evan Vucci / REUTERS
"We are in 201. High; but center court. I will swing down at half to say hello," JP Cooney, then a deputy to Smith, wrote in one message that was printed on a poster during the hearing.
According to reporting, Schmitt’s team appears to have focused on the date (Feb. 3, 2024) and limited its search to NBA and men’s college schedules, overlooking women’s college basketball — the category that included the Maryland–Iowa matchup Smith attended. A simple venue check also would have revealed that the Row 109 seat cited in the posted texts does not exist at State Farm Arena, the Hawks’ home venue.
Basketball star Caitlin Clark has been caught up in the mess. / Stephen Gosling / NBAE via Getty Images
Aftermath
Sources told MS NOW and Politico that Schmitt had been warned his staff had not properly vetted the messages before presenting them in the hearing. The episode has reportedly put a planned White House promotion for Schmitt’s general counsel, Ethan Harper — who held up the posters in committee — into question, though there is no public evidence Harper was responsible for the vetting errors.
Schmitt’s spokesperson told The Hill the senator never saw texts referencing Caitlin Clark by name and said the exchange stemmed from a shared interest in college sports. The Daily Beast and other outlets have reached out to Schmitt’s office for comment.
Reporting referenced: The Hill, Politico, MS NOW, The Daily Beast.
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