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Public disputes concerning what governments and public bodies disclose about their own conduct, data and records, including the completeness, timing and accuracy of what they publish.
Counts show individual statements. They do not assign an overall position.
2 statements on this page. Dates: September 29, 2026
2 matching statements. Dates: September 29, 2026
2 published statements. Dates: September 29, 2026
Role at the time: U.S. Senator (R-MO), speaking to NBC News outside the hearing room
Response to this claim
Sen. Eric Schmitt asserted that Jack Smith had already perjured himself, telling him, "I think you've already perjured yourself," after Smith said he did not go to a Hawks game.
“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.”
NBC News live blog entry reporting Schmitt's questions to Smith about the February 3, 2024 game, Klobuchar's closing remarks about the Iowa-Maryland game, and Schmitt's comments to NBC News outside the hearing room.
The case tracks whether Smith attended the game Schmitt named. Asked whether he still thought Smith had perjured himself after learning the details of the game, Schmitt neither repeated nor withdrew the claim and said a prosecutor would determine it, which redirects the question, so we labeled it as declining to answer.
Role at the time: U.S. Senator questioning a witness at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing
Response to this claim
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.”
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)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.
