A Senate Judiciary Committee hearing focused on former special counsel Jack Smith’s investigations involving Donald Trump took an unexpected turn Tuesday when a dispute over Smith’s whereabouts in February 2024 became a discussion about Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes.

The unusual exchange began when Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., questioned Smith about whether he had attended an NBA game between the Golden State Warriors and Atlanta Hawks in Atlanta on February 3, 2024.

Schmitt connected the alleged Atlanta trip to the controversy surrounding Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and Nathan Wade, who had served as a special prosecutor in the Georgia election-interference case involving Trump.

Smith Denies Attending Hawks Game

Smith immediately rejected the suggestion that he had attended the Atlanta game.

He said he was confident that he had not attended an Atlanta Hawks game and did not recall being in Atlanta that day. Schmitt then said he had text messages from members of Smith’s team that he claimed placed Smith at the Warriors-Hawks game.

A staff member briefly displayed a poster containing several text messages before taking it down. Smith objected that he had not been given enough time to examine the material.

Schmitt subsequently accused Smith of having already perjured himself and later referred to him as a “total dirtbag” during the exchange.

Then Caitlin Clark Entered the Hearing

The questioning took a very different direction when Smith explained which basketball game he remembered attending around that date.

Smith said he had attended a University of Maryland women’s basketball game featuring Caitlin Clark, who was then the star of the Iowa Hawkeyes.

The date turned out to be significant.

On February 3, 2024, Iowa played Maryland in College Park, Maryland. Iowa won the game 93–85, with Clark scoring 38 points.

That information prompted Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota to question whether the evidence being discussed had confused the Atlanta Hawks with the Iowa Hawkeyes.

The two teams have completely different identities and were playing in different states that day.

A Team Name Became the Center of the Dispute

Klobuchar used her questioning time to address the apparent discrepancy and noted that the Iowa team is known as the Hawkeyes, while Atlanta’s NBA team is the Hawks.

The distinction mattered because Schmitt’s questioning had tied Smith’s alleged presence at the Atlanta game to a broader theory involving events in Georgia.

Smith also told senators that he had never met Fani Willis or Nathan Wade while serving as special counsel.

Schmitt, however, maintained that the text messages raised questions and did not withdraw his criticism during the hearing. Later, he said prosecutors would determine whether the circumstances amounted to perjury.

Why the Exchange Went Viral

What began as a serious line of questioning about Smith’s conduct quickly became one of the hearing’s most talked-about moments because of the apparent Hawks-versus-Hawkeyes confusion.

The Senate hearing itself was convened to examine Smith’s conduct as special counsel and allegations concerning his investigations and treatment of Republicans. Smith defended his work and rejected accusations that his investigations were politically motivated.

But the basketball exchange shifted attention away from those broader issues.

For sports fans, the irony was particularly striking: the evidence being discussed was connected to a basketball game, but the key distinction appeared to be whether the reference was to the Atlanta Hawks or the Iowa Hawkeyes.

And that is how Caitlin Clark’s name ended up becoming one of the biggest talking points from a Senate hearing about Jack Smith and the Trump investigations.

The Bottom Line

The exchange illustrates how a seemingly small factual distinction can become significant when it is used to support a much larger allegation.

Smith said he attended the Iowa-Maryland game in Maryland. The game took place on February 3, 2024, the same date Schmitt referenced in his questioning. Available reporting confirms that Iowa and Maryland played that day, with Clark leading Iowa to a 93–85 victory.

What remains at the center of the dispute is how the text messages presented by Schmitt were interpreted and what they were intended to establish.

The result was an extraordinary moment in a congressional hearing: a proceeding focused on Jack Smith’s Trump investigations suddenly became a Caitlin Clark and college basketball story.