TPM has found evidence that Sen. Eric Schmitt, Republican of Missouri, built his dramatic accusation against former special counsel Jack Smith on a misreading of staff text messages. The theory depended on Smith attending an Atlanta Hawks game in a seat that did not exist at that arena.

Schmitt unveiled the accusation during Tuesday’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, where Smith responded to Republican allegations that his investigations of President Donald Trump were politically motivated. Smith led criminal probes into Trump’s handling of classified documents and his efforts to fight his loss in the 2020 election.

Smith’s team had uncovered boxes of classified documents stored in a bathroom at Trump’s private club, along with communications involving Republican lawmakers planning efforts to overturn the 2020 race. Still, Republican senators echoed Trump’s claim that the federal government had been weaponized against him.

Schmitt abruptly asked Smith whether he attended an NBA game between the Golden State Warriors and Atlanta Hawks on February 3, 2024. A confused Smith asked the senator to repeat the question before saying he did not believe he had attended a Hawks game.

“It’s possible I flew through the Atlanta airport … but I do not have a recollection of going to Atlanta,” Smith said, adding, “I definitely did not go to a Hawks game. I’m sure of that.”

Schmitt suggested Smith attended the game to meet Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney Fani Willis and her colleague Nathan Wade. Willis was pursuing her own criminal case against Trump, and Schmitt noted that Willis and Wade had admitted to a romantic relationship the previous day.

Smith firmly denied meeting with either Willis or Wade. Schmitt nevertheless produced a poster board showing graphic representations of messages between staff members in Smith’s office and suggested the former special counsel had lied before Congress.

The key message, dated February 3, 2024, came from deputy special counsel J.P. Cooney and asked another man, “Is 109 Row 1 reserved for Jack?” Schmitt treated that line as evidence Smith had attended the Hawks game in Atlanta.

The arena itself posed a rather brutal problem for Schmitt’s theory. Although the Hawks played the Warriors at State Farm Arena that evening, seating maps from multiple ticketing sites show that rows in section 109 use letters, not numbers.

Social media posts from fans indicate the same seating system was in place in 2024. Put simply, there was no seat matching 109 Row 1 at the game Schmitt had confidently declared was the scene of improper coordination.

Schmitt’s presentation began unraveling during the hearing as other senators asked him to keep the poster board visible. He resisted and told Smith, “We’ll put it in a file. You can respond. I think you’ve already perjured yourself.”

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Democrat of Minnesota, insisted Smith should be allowed to examine the supposed evidence. Once Smith saw the display, he said Schmitt appeared to have identified the wrong basketball game and recalled attending a University of Maryland game featuring Caitlin Clark.

The Maryland Terrapins women’s basketball team played the University of Iowa Hawkeyes on February 3, 2024, at the Xfinity Center. Clark scored 38 points in the matchup, and ticketing sites show that the Maryland arena has a section 109 with numerical rows, including a seat matching the text message.

Klobuchar suggested Schmitt had confused the Hawks with the Hawkeyes and told him he should have examined the material more carefully. When Schmitt continued claiming the texts showed a meeting in Atlanta, Klobuchar cut through the performance: “Teams,” she said. “You had the teams wrong, sir.”

The collapse continued after the hearing on the “Charlie Kirk Show,” where host Andrew Kolvet praised Schmitt for supposedly catching Smith at an NBA game in Atlanta. Schmitt admitted Smith had offered another explanation, then said his job was simply to ask questions, be aggressive, and press the witness.

The episode also landed awkwardly beside Republican claims of devotion to women’s sports, including their political fixation on Clark and the WNBA. Schmitt’s grand conspiracy apparently relied on missing the Hawkeyes, Clark’s game, and the very real Maryland seat while obsessing over nonexistent Atlanta stands.