Schmitt defends the poster of text messages and says "I stand by that statement"
Eric SchmittU.S. Senator questioning a witness at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing
Sen. Eric Schmitt asks former special counsel Jack Smith about an NBA game in Atlanta, Smith answers, and Sen. Amy Klobuchar responds, at the Senate Judiciary Committee's Sept. 29, 2026 hearing.
Excerpt from about 1:50:45 to 1:57:57 of the Senate Judiciary Committee's archived video of the hearing. The C-SPAN recording cited for this source shows the same exchange. DI added its logo in the corner.
Video: U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Public domain (U.S. government work) (opens in a new tab)
Watch the full original video (opens in a new tab) (relevant passage: Clip 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.)
After Klobuchar said Schmitt was calling a witness a dirtbag, Schmitt said he had presented Smith with text messages about Smith wanting to meet with people that "could have obviously been related to the prosecution that was coordinated with his office in Atlanta." After Klobuchar said people should have their facts straight before accusing someone of being a dirtbag and get the teams right, Schmitt said, "I stand by that statement." He did not say which statement he meant.
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.
“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.”
Original video
Other statements by Eric Schmitt in this case
- Schmitt tells NBC News it is "up to a prosecutor to determine" whether Smith perjured himselfSame day: Explicitly stayed out
Where this statement fits
Did Jack Smith Attend the Warriors-Hawks Game Eric Schmitt Asked About?
At a September 29, 2026 Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on his conduct as special counsel, Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO) asked former special counsel Jack Smith, "Did you go to an NBA game between the Golden State Warriors and the Atlanta Hawks on February 3rd, 2024?" Schmitt described the date as the day after Fani Willis and Nathan Wade "announced their affair," displayed a poster of text messages he described as coming from Smith's team, and said, "I think you've already perjured yourself." Smith said he definitely did not go to a Hawks game and had no recollection of going to Atlanta. He later said that, if the poster referred to the correct game, he recalled attending a University of Maryland basketball game where Caitlin Clark was playing around that time, and that the date could be checked. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) said Schmitt had the teams wrong and, at the end of her questioning time, that the accusation deserved an apology. Schmitt said "I stand by that statement" without specifying which statement, and told NBC News after the hearing that whether Smith perjured himself would be "up to a prosecutor to determine." The dispute is whether Smith attended the game Schmitt named.
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)Watch the clip from this source at the top of the page.
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
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.
- Recorded on
- Published here
- People and groups discussed
- Jack Smith
More from this case
Read the full caseDurbin asks Grassley to apologize to Smith
“apologize to Mr. Smith on behalf of the Committee for the unacceptable personal attacks and false accusations of perjury”Read statement
Klobuchar says Schmitt's accusation and dirtbag remark deserve an apology
“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
Klobuchar says people should have their facts straight before calling someone a dirtbag
“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
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- Schmitt defends the poster of text messages and says "I stand by that statement"
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- https://disputeindex.com/events/3291-after-klobuchar-said-schmitt-was-calling-a-witness
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The Dispute Index. "Schmitt defends the poster of text messages and says "I stand by that statement"". First published: 2026-09-29. Last updated: 2026-09-29. https://disputeindex.com/events/3291-after-klobuchar-said-schmitt-was-calling-a-witness