A tense Senate hearing took an unexpected turn after a Republican senator challenged the former special counsel over a basketball game that appeared to involve a mix-up between the Atlanta Hawks and Iowa Hawkeyes.
A Senate Judiciary Committee hearing examining former special counsel Jack Smith's investigations of Donald Trump took an unexpected turn on Tuesday when Republican Senator Eric Schmitt of Missouri accused Smith of perjury over a basketball game — only for the dispute to centre on a mix-up between the Atlanta Hawks and the Iowa Hawkeyes.
The senator questioned Smith about whether he had attended an Atlanta Hawks game on 3 February 2024, suggesting the trip could place him in Atlanta while Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis was pursuing a separate election-interference case against Trump.
Smith denied attending a Hawks game and said he did not recall travelling to Atlanta in connection with his work as special counsel.
'I think you've already perjured yourself,' Schmitt told him during the exchange.
Minutes later, however, Smith recalled attending a different basketball game that day: a University of Iowa women's game against the University of Maryland. The Iowa team is known as the Hawkeyes.
Senator Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat, highlighted the apparent mix-up and suggested Schmitt had confused references to the 'Hawkeyes' with the NBA's Atlanta Hawks.
The exchange became one of the most unusual moments of a hearing otherwise dominated by disputes over Smith's Trump investigations, subpoenas for lawmakers' phone records and accusations of political bias.
A phenomenal moment in the Senate.
— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) September 29, 2026
Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., claims he has evidence Jack Smith went to a HAWKS game in Atlanta.
Smith denies it.
Schmitt declares he has busted Jack Smith for perjury.
Smith, vexed, says he went to HAWKEYES game in Maryland.
Watch the whole thing: pic.twitter.com/J07o5Uwfxi
Smith Defends Trump Investigations
Smith used his opening statement to defend the two federal criminal cases he brought against Trump while serving as special counsel.
He told senators that his team had developed what he described as 'proof beyond a reasonable doubt' that Trump had committed serious crimes against the country. Smith said he would make the same decision to prosecute on the same facts regardless of whether a former president was a Republican or Democrat.
Those remarks represented Smith's assessment as prosecutor, not a judicial finding. Neither of the two federal cases he brought against Trump reached trial, and neither resulted in a conviction.
One case concerned allegations that Trump conspired to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. The other involved allegations that he unlawfully retained classified documents after leaving office.
The classified-documents case was dismissed in 2024 by US District Judge Aileen Cannon, who ruled that Smith's appointment was unconstitutional. Smith's election case was later dropped after Trump won the 2024 election, in accordance with Justice Department policy against prosecuting a sitting president.
Trump denied wrongdoing in both cases.
Republicans Challenge Smith Over Investigative Tactics
Republican senators used much of Tuesday's hearing to challenge Smith's methods, particularly his team's acquisition of phone toll records involving Republican lawmakers. Committee chairman Chuck Grassley accused Smith's operation of partisan targeting and argued that investigators had exceeded constitutional boundaries.
Smith rejected the accusations, saying prosecutors sought the records because Trump and his associates had contacted members of Congress on 6 January 2021 while certification of the presidential election was being delayed.
Toll records show information such as the time, date and duration of calls, but do not contain the substance of conversations.
Smith also defended his independence, saying politics had not influenced his prosecutorial decisions. 'I will not be silenced by the continued threats of prosecution from the president or others,' he told the committee.
Democrats, meanwhile, defended Smith's investigation and criticised Republican attacks on the former special counsel.
The hearing ended without resolving the broader partisan dispute over Smith's prosecutions, but the Hawks-Hawkeyes confusion provided an unexpected moment in an otherwise contentious session.
