Reporters covered the hearing — but what about the bigger mess?
Sen. Eric Schmitt was anticipating a big day Tuesday, hoping for the kind of attention a congressional hearing can bring with the right video moment. But like so many cautionary fairy tales, Schmitt got what he wished for — just not the way he imagined.
The Missouri Republican, at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, played you’re-under-oath gotcha with former Special Counsel Jack Smith. Schmitt elicited from Smith a denial that he was in Atlanta at a Hawks-Warriors basketball game in February 2024 — never mind why it supposedly mattered — before displaying on a poster board text messages proving that, as Schmitt saw it, Smith was committing perjury.
Except, it turned out, Smith was at a basketball game on the day in question — at the University of Maryland, which was playing Caitlin Clark (38 points, 12 assists) and the Iowa Hawkeyes. Hawks — Hawkeyes. NBA — NCAA. Atlanta — College Park, Md. Who hasn’t mixed those things up?
So, no gotcha.
Coverage of the mind-boggling error has been relentless. (MS NOW coverage was kind of gleeful at the way Schmitt’s obviously planned media day blew up in his face.) Reporters even found video from that game showing Smith in the stands.
It’s always been a commonplace to say that people will post things online that they would never say face-to-face. But Schmitt was comfortable calling Smith a “dirtbag,” and stood by the remark even after his own error became clear. Nor did Schmitt’s Republican colleagues back away. According to the Guardian:
At one point, [Louisiana GOP Sen. John] Kennedy told Smith: “You make me want to throw up in my mouth.”
Ted Cruz, a Republican senator from Texas who became increasingly angry while talking about Smith subpoenaing congressional members’ phone records, told Smith: “Javert from Les Mis would look at you with astonishment.”
During my years as a congressional staffer, I spent half my time in meetings with people who disagreed with my boss — and then talked about next steps.
You can’t do that if you open the meeting by calling someone a dirtbag. You don’t do that unless you view Congress not as a forum, but as a cage match.
And that’s the conundrum for journalists. Covering a train wreck of a hearing is easy. Explaining the institutional rot that led to that moment is hard.
(Sept. 30, 2026)
The New York Times: As Jack Smith Testifies, a Senator’s Accusation of Perjury Falls Apart
The Guardian: ‘You make me want to throw up’: Republicans attack ex-special counsel Jack Smith at Senate hearing