Klobuchar Revels in GOP Colleague’s Failed ‘Gotcha’ Moment After He Confuses Atlanta Hawks and Iowa Hawkeyes During Questioning of Jack Smith

Senator Amy Klobuchar is more than happy to talk about her moment confronting a GOP colleague, Senator Eric Schmitt, after he mistakenly tried to imply that former special counsel Jack Smith was at an Atlanta Hawks game in 2024 around the same time the county district attorney, Fani Willis, had been having an affair with someone on her payroll. Mr. Schmitt and his staff were roundly mocked after his failed attempt at a “gotcha” moment. Mr. Schmitt, a first-term lawmaker from Missouri, tried to catch Mr. Smith off guard at a Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday. The senator asked Mr. Smith if he had been at an NBA game at Atlanta on February 3, 2024 between the Atlanta Hawks and the Golden State Warriors. When Mr. Smith said he did not believe so, Mr. Schmitt flashed a smile.“So your testimony today is that you did not go to a Hawks game?” Mr. Schmitt asked. Mr. Smith said he had no recollection of such an event and that he had not even been in Georgia around that time. Mr. Schmitt showed off a posterboard displaying text messages between two of Mr. Smith’s deputies, with one asking the other if Section 109, row one had been reserved for Mr. Smith. The second member of Mr. Smith’s team responded to the text to say that Mr. Smith was already in his seat. After Mr. Schmitt’s questioning, Mr. Smith said he remembered attending a game between the University of Maryland and the University of Iowa women’s basketball teams in Maryland. Ms. Klobuchar then reminded Mr. Schmitt that the name of Iowa’s team is the Iowa Hawkeyes. Mr. Schmitt then snapped at Ms. Klobuchar, asking whose time was being consumed, accusing her of trying to “rehabilitate” Mr. Smith. Shortly after the encounter, videos of Mr. Smith in attendance at that Maryland–Iowa game emerged, including one video posted to Instagram by the Maryland women’s basketball team. Speaking to reporters just off the Senate floor on Tuesday night, Ms. Klobuchar — who typically declines to answer the press’s questions — was all smiles. “The minute I heard — when [Mr. Schmitt] said ‘Hawks’ and when Jack Smith said, ‘I never was at an Atlanta game,’ when you’re from the Midwest, the Hawks also mean the Hawkeyes,” Ms. Klobuchar said with a smile. “So, I thought, ‘Hmm, this seems interesting.’”Ms. Klobuchar said she took issue with Mr. Schmitt calling Mr. Smith a “dirtbag” at the end of his questioning period. “To then have Schmitt keep talking over me and accusing me of rehabilitating the witness when the only one that needed rehabilitating was [Mr. Schmitt],” Ms. Klobuchar said. “That really led to this moment, and I think it does show two things — One, don’t ask a question unless you know the answer, and when a prosecutor tells you that that never happened, maybe you should start doubting your chart.”“The second thing is, the whole reason they did this hearing was to distract from what is going on right now,” she continued. “Costs are up, chaos is up, corruption is up, and instead of doing a hearing on health care or on prescription drug prices, they go and decide to do this one. Well, I guess they got their comeuppance.”Ms. Klobuchar, who is running for governor of Minnesota, then started walking toward the Senate floor. One reporter asked if — should she lose her race — she would be interested in being the new commissioner of the WNBA. She laughed and said she was going to win in November.

Klobuchar Revels in GOP Colleague’s Failed ‘Gotcha’ Moment After He Confuses Atlanta Hawks and Iowa Hawkeyes During Questioning of Jack Smith

Klobuchar Revels in GOP Colleague’s Failed ‘Gotcha’ Moment After He Confuses Atlanta Hawks and Iowa Hawkeyes During Questioning of Jack Smith

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