Schmitt defends the poster of text messages and says "I stand by that statement"
U.S. Senator questioning a witness at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing
“I presented him with text messages about him wanting to meet with people that could have obviously been related to the prosecution that was coordinated with his office in Atlanta. ... I stand by that statement.”
Source and context
Original video
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
Klobuchar had asked whether the confusion could be over Iowa's Hawkeyes and told Schmitt he was calling a witness a dirtbag.
After the quotation
The hearing then moved to Klobuchar's questions.
How this statement is classified
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?
The case tracks whether Smith attended the game Schmitt named. Schmitt defends the poster of text messages by saying they concerned Smith wanting to meet people tied to the Atlanta prosecution, and says he stands by a statement after Klobuchar's remarks about the teams. He does not address which game Smith attended and does not retract, so we labeled it a defense of the accusation rather than a defense of the game identification.
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- Jack Smith
Did Jack Smith Attend the Warriors-Hawks Game Eric Schmitt Asked About?
Explore the case context, sources and public responses.
More from this case
Read the full case“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
“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
“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