As they prepared for the testimony of former special counsel Jack Smith, Republican staff on the Senate Judiciary Committee warned Senator Eric Schmitt that the texts obtained from the Justice Department, which Schmitt suggested indicated collusion between Smith and a Georgia state prosecutor, were 'unvetted,' according to a source with direct knowledge of the conversation.
The congressional hearing quickly unraveled as Schmitt claimed Smith attended an Atlanta Hawks basketball game in February 2024, implying a conspiracy with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. However, this allegation fell apart shortly after being broadcast live on C-SPAN.
Sources familiar with the committee process reported that the Department of Justice shared materials with GOP staff prior to Smith’s hearing. Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley’s team created a memo containing key information for the hearing, but the texts were not included in that memo.
Additionally, Grassley did not share the texts with Democratic senators before the hearing, raising suspicions among Democrats that congressional Republicans and the Trump administration were collaborating to undermine Smith, according to a Democratic staffer and another source briefed by committee staff.
Schmitt’s team sought material linking Smith’s investigation, which examined efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 election, to Willis’ investigation into potential manipulation of Georgia election results. After expressing interest, Schmitt’s team was granted access to the texts, but Judiciary staff explicitly warned them that the texts were unvetted and that verifying the information was their responsibility.
Neither Schmitt’s office nor the Justice Department responded to MS NOW’s request for comment. It is common for the Justice Department to provide a limited set of nonsensitive records in cases under congressional investigation. However, Trump appointees have been noted for sharing a broad range of sensitive materials, as Republicans search for evidence of misconduct by Smith and his team.
Despite numerous allegations and conspiracy theories, no concrete examples of wrongdoing have emerged from these efforts. In a previous questioning of Smith, Republican members used internal communications from Smith’s office regarding subpoenas to accuse him of 'wiretapping' GOP members during his investigation into Trump’s actions surrounding the 2020 presidential election. However, the records did not support those claims, instead showing routine investigative steps taken by Smith’s office.
During the hearing, Schmitt’s suggestion that Smith and Willis had secretly met regarding their cases against Trump was based on a misunderstanding. Smith denied ever meeting with Willis. When Schmitt asserted he had texts proving Smith attended the Hawks game, Smith expressed confusion, stating he had no memory of being in Atlanta, except possibly at an airport.
Smith clarified that he had attended a women’s college basketball game around the same time, which was actually in Maryland, not Atlanta. A quick search confirmed that the games in Maryland and Atlanta occurred on the same date, February 3, 2024.
Schmitt appeared to be attempting to catch Smith in a lie, while also promoting a theory popular in far-right media that Smith was coordinating with the Georgia prosecution of Trump. However, had Schmitt or his staff conducted basic verification, they would have discovered that Smith was in College Park, Maryland, not Atlanta, and the seat number mentioned in the texts did not exist in the Hawks’ State Farm Arena. Consequently, a hearing intended to expose alleged misconduct left Schmitt appearing to leap to conclusions without proper verification.