Eric Schmitt

The Senate Judiciary Committee's Democrats demanded an apology Wednesday from the Republican chair for last week's failed attack against former special counsel Jack Smith.

Senator Eric Schmitt, the Missouri Republican, tried to trap Smith during a hearing by placing him in Atlanta in February 2024, when a local prosecutor was working a criminal case against President Donald Trump. Smith's visit to the area, Schmitt thought, could prove he was conspiring with other officials to target Trump for his attempts to overturn the 2020 election.

Smith wasn't in Atlanta, though, or Georgia or even anywhere in the deep south. He was in Maryland, attending a Terrapins basketball game featuring Iowa Hawkeyes star Caitlin Clark, far from the Atlanta Hawks arena Schmitt claimed he'd visited.

Democrats are pushing Chair Chuck Grassley, the Iowa Republican, to apologize to Smith on behalf of Schmitt and the rest of the committee.

"This farce culminated in a national embarrassment for the Committee, when, in their eagerness to ambush a witness and manufacture a viral moment, Republican Members violated Senate rules by not sharing committee records with the minority and falsely accused a witness of perjury based on their own misunderstanding of these records," the Democrats, led by Ranking Member Dick Durbin, wrote in a letter.

The National News Desk requested comment from Grassley but hasn't received a response.

Schmitt told Smith after his denial of the Atlanta trip that he probably committed perjury. The senator also shared texts during the hearing about Smith's travel without giving the Democrats a heads-up, but Grassley hasn't publicly addressed the validity of the claims of improper procedure.

Schmitt has brushed off his gotcha gaffe, which he's described as a misunderstanding.

"Who knew Jack Smith was a Caitlin Clark fan?" he told reporters after the hearing. "Listen, we had information he was at a basketball game. There was only one NBA game that night at 7:30 tip-off, which is why I asked him if he was in Atlanta.

"He answered the question. So that's what these hearings are for. You ask questions, you get answers."

Schmitt and other Republicans have targeted Smith since he began his investigation, which they claim was a partisan attempt to hurt Trump's 2024 campaign. Smith defends his work as detached from political motivations, even asserting before the president re-took office that he likely had enough evidence to convict him.

The former special counsel dropped his case ahead of Trump's inauguration in accordance with longstanding Justice Department policy to steer clear of prosecutions of sitting presidents.