Congress
Eric Schmitt defends mix-up that led to viral gaffe during Jack Smith’s hearing
Sen. Eric Schmitt expressed no remorse Wednesday for falsely accusing Jack Smith of lying to Congress about attending a basketball game as a guise to investigate President Donald Trump — and for creating a viral moment that critics have seized on to undercut the GOP’s case against the former special counsel.
“He has lied before to Congress,” Schmitt, a Missouri Republican, said in an interview about whether he regretted calling Smith a liar for denying he was at an event he never attended.
During a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday morning, Schmitt was gearing up to deal what he thought would be a crushing blow to Smith, a longtime GOP target for his handling of two criminal prosecutions against Trump during the Biden administration.
Armed with an elaborate poster displaying text messages where Smith and a colleague discussed seating arrangements for a basketball game, Schmitt was attempting to prove that Smith secretly traveled to Atlanta to watch a home game between the Hawks and the Golden State Warriors as a guise to conspire with Fani Willis — a disgraced local prosecutor who was also pursuing criminal charges against Trump for trying to overturn the 2020 election.
Smith was flummoxed by the accusation, with Schmitt saying he would give the witness “a second to process it so you don’t, you know, perjure yourself.”
But the attempt backfired when Smith soon realized he had in fact gone to a basketball game the night of Feb. 3, 2024, but not an NBA game in Atlanta, rather a women’s game in College Park between the Maryland Terrapins and the Iowa Hawkeyes.
“It’s because Caitlin Clark was coming to Maryland to play,” said Smith of the star women’s basketball player who was then playing for the Iowa team.
Schmitt said in an interview Wednesday that the mix-up was due to the fact that there were no other NBA games that same night with a 7:30 p.m. starting time.
“Well, we had text messages from [Smith’s] team that he was at a basketball game, and the only game at 7:30 tip-off in the NBA was in Atlanta,” Schmitt said, adding, “I didn’t know he was a Caitlin Clark fan. Now we know.”
A House-passed bill to restrict members of Congress from buying and selling stocks failed on the Senate floor Wednesday in a party-line vote, with Democrats insisting it would not do enough to curb lawmakers’ trading.
Senators voted 53-47 on advancing the Stop Insider Trading Act, short of the 60 votes needed. Every Democratic and independent senator voted to reject the measure, which would prohibit members and their spouses from purchasing individual stocks and institute new reporting requirements.
Among other criticisms, Democrats argued the bill would not require lawmakers to sell stocks they already own.
“The Republican toothless stock trading bill is as ineffective as a screen door on a submarine,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said on the floor Wednesday. “This bill has no reform, no accountability, no substance.”
Most Democrats also refused to support the bill because of voter ID requirements that were added into the bill, including some that are part of the GOP’s stalled SAVE America Act. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) called those “a poison pill” in his own floor remarks Wednesday.
Other Democrats also wanted to see the bill’s trading restrictions extended to White House personnel, including the president.
Thirteen House Democrats joined Republicans to pass the legislation in July. The White House issued a statement of support for the legislation at the time.
The stock-trading measure was among the final items of Senate business before the chamber adjourns for the midterms. Congressional stock trading has emerged as a campaign talking point in both parties as allegations of insider trading garner significant public scrutiny. Calls for a member trading ban have become a fixture of campaign ads and stump speeches and were even seen at the GOP’s September convention in Dallas.
Republicans were ready to champion the bill’s passage on the campaign trail, but they are now likely to attack Democrats for blocking the measure. GOP Sens. Pete Ricketts of Nebraska and Jon Husted of Ohio, both in tight reelection races, helped roll out the legislation.
“We need to restore the faith of the American people in the House and in the Senate,” Ricketts said on the floor Wednesday.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters Wednesday progress on a new party-line spending bill is an “option” after the midterms — but cautioned that he still didn’t see a path to getting 50 votes.
Thune spoke with Budget Chair Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) Wednesday morning.
“Obviously we’re continuing to track and see what what is achievable and what we can get the votes for,” Thune said, adding that it’s “difficult.”
Senators are circling a rapid escape from Washington today.
Majority Leader John Thune told Jordain the chamber could wrap up by the end of Wednesday.
“No certainty around this yet but it seems to be that everybody is … heading toward a glide path tomorrow night,” Thune said Tuesday about the Senate’s impending exit.
The decision will let battleground candidates get home to start campaigning as Republicans try to hold onto control of the chamber.
One issue to watch: Republicans were already missing two senators during Tuesday night’s vote — Sens. Dan Sullivan and Bill Cassidy. And they expect their attendance issues to only grow.
What’s left to do: Thune will bring up a House-passed bill to restrict the ability of members of Congress and their families to trade stocks. It also includes voter ID language being championed by frontline candidate Sen. Jon Husted.
Democrats are expected to block it with Minority Leader Chuck Schumer accusing Republicans of “playing partisan political games” by linking the two efforts.
The Senate will then turn to a data center cost bill also championed by the Ohio Republican. Democrats have panned the bill as “toothless” and, as our colleague Amelia Davidson reported, appear to be gearing up to spike it.
Republicans will take a first step toward confirming Keith Sonderling to be Labor secretary. But with the 30-hour debate requirement for Cabinet nominees following an initial vote, final confirmation would keep lawmakers in session until late Thursday — when members decidedly do not still want to be in town and the attendance problems would likely only grow.
If Democrats could be talked into a time agreement, Republicans could confirm Sonderling before a Wednesday night exit. But Thune also appeared skeptical Sonderling would be finished before senators left, which would punt his confirmation into November.
A scheduling question mark: Senate Republicans have six resolutions to cut energy and ship-related regulations members want a vote on, but it’s not clear yet which will get floor time this week.
Thune told us he’d “like” to do some, but it would come down to “vote counts and attendance and everything else.”
What else we’re watching:
— DEMOCRATS UNIFY ON WEST BANK: Senate Democrats, including Schumer, overwhelmingly supported a resolution Tuesday that aimed to shed light on growing Israeli violence against Americans and Palestinians in the West Bank. The measure was ultimately blocked by Republicans in a 47-51 vote, but the unanimous Democratic support (minus Sen. John Fetterman) highlights Democrats’ increasing frustration with Israel’s military conduct across several regional conflicts, including the war with Gaza and the war with the U.S. against Iran. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, who forced the vote, said in a statement after he was “pleased that so many of my Democratic colleagues joined this effort,” while slamming Republicans for what he deems denying accountability for crimes by Israeli settlers against Palestinian locals.
— SENATE AWAITS PERMITTING LANGUAGE — Senators on both sides of the aisle are waiting eagerly for the full text of a bipartisan permitting reform package to be released midday Wednesday, A summary of the bill’s broad provisions, obtained first by Blue Light News, had been circulated already, but senators are eager to see the exact legislative language, particularly on the contentious issues that could decide how many votes the package gets in a lame-duck vote. “All the issues are solved in concept,” said Sen. Angus King. “We have to produce legislative language.”
Nico Portuondo and Pavan Acharya contributed to this report.
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