Durbin asks Grassley to apologize to Smith
Dick DurbinSenate Judiciary Committee ranking member, writing with committee Democrats
Durbin asks Grassley to provide records and apologize to Smith on the committee's behalf. The letter calls the perjury accusations false.
“apologize to Mr. Smith on behalf of the Committee for the unacceptable personal attacks and false accusations of perjury”
Official statement
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
Official statement
About this source
The letter alleges violations of Senate records-access rules and criticizes accusations made during the September 29 hearing. Its assertions are the signers' position.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
The letter primarily objects to withholding committee records used during the September 29 hearing.
After the quotation
The closing paragraph repeats the request for records and an apology to Smith.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
The letter describes the attacks as unacceptable and the accusations as false, expressing condemnation of Schmitt's questioning.
- Recorded on
- Published here
- People and groups discussed
- Eric Schmitt
More from this case
Read the full caseSchmitt tells NBC News it is "up to a prosecutor to determine" whether Smith perjured himself
“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
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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The Dispute Index. "Durbin asks Grassley to apologize to Smith". First published: 2026-10-12. Last updated: 2026-10-12. https://disputeindex.com/events/5612-durbin-asks-grassley-to-provide-records-and-apologize