Smith says he recalls a Maryland game where Caitlin Clark played

Former special counsel, testifying under oath before the Senate Judiciary Committee

“if this is the correct basketball game, I recall going to a University of Maryland basketball game where Caitlin Clark was playing right around that time ... You could check if that was the exact date. It was Maryland playing Iowa, I think February of 2024”
Watch the original video (opens in a new tab)Sen. Klobuchar Clashes with Sen. Schmitt After He Mistakenly Claims Jack Smith Attended NBA Game in Atlanta · C-SPANClip runtime 0:00-7:11. Sen. Schmitt's opening question and the text-message poster exchange run from 0:00-1:35. Jack Smith's Maryland-Iowa clarification and Sen. Klobuchar's on-the-record correction run from approximately 5:20-7:11.

Source and context

Original video

Sen. Klobuchar Clashes with Sen. Schmitt After He Mistakenly Claims Jack Smith Attended NBA Game in Atlanta (opens in a new tab) · C-SPANClip runtime 0:00-7:11. Sen. Schmitt's opening question and the text-message poster exchange run from 0:00-1:35. Jack Smith's Maryland-Iowa clarification and Sen. Klobuchar's on-the-record correction run from approximately 5:20-7:11.

About this source

C-SPAN video clip of the September 29, 2026 Senate Judiciary Committee hearing at which Jack Smith testified. The clip covers Sen. Eric Schmitt's questions about Smith's attendance at a February 3, 2024 basketball game, Smith's denial and later clarification, and Sen. Amy Klobuchar's real-time correction. DI reviewed the audio directly to verify the exact wording of this exchange rather than relying on news paraphrase.

Archived copy (opens in a new tab)

Before the quotation

Smith had said he did not recall going to Atlanta or to a Hawks game. Klobuchar asked that Smith be allowed to see the poster of text messages, and Smith said he could address it.

After the quotation

Klobuchar asked whether the confusion could be over Iowa's Hawkeyes; Smith said the game was played because Caitlin Clark was coming to Maryland to play.

How this statement is classified

Challenged the characterization

Responding to: Sen. Eric Schmitt implied that Jack Smith attended a Golden State Warriors versus Atlanta Hawks NBA game in Atlanta on February 3, 2024, asking Smith whether he had gone to the game and displaying a poster of text messages he described as coming from Smith's team.

The label describes this statement’s response within the context above.

Why this label?

Smith does not adopt Schmitt's description of the game. He says the game he recalls attending around that date was a Maryland game with Caitlin Clark, hedges that the date could be checked, and so disputes the description of the game as a Hawks game.

Recorded on
Published here
People and groups discussed
Eric Schmitt
Sen. Eric Schmitt questions former special counsel Jack Smith during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.
Credit: C-SPAN

More from this case

Read the full case

Eric Schmitt

“We’ll find out. That’s going to be up to a prosecutor to determine. My job here today was to ask questions and get answers.”
Read statement

Amy Klobuchar

“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”
Read statement

Amy Klobuchar

“I think that people should have their facts straight before they accuse someone of being a dirtbag and not get the teams wrong.”
Read statement