Raskin rips Schmitt questioning of Jack Smith: ‘He’s basically disgraced himself’

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) on Tuesday blasted Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) after he and his staff appeared to confuse one basketball team for another when questioning former special counsel Jack Smith about his attendance at a game.

Schmitt earlier Tuesday asked Smith if he attended a February 2024 NBA game in Atlanta between the Hawks and the Golden State Warriors. The inquiry and subsequent exchange drew in other senators and sparked confusion after he appeared to mistake the Iowa Hawkeyes for the Atlanta Hawks.

“Look, nobody ever heard of Sen. Schmitt before, and nobody’s going to ever hear of him again,” Raskin, the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, told CNN’s Erin Burnett. “He’s basically disgraced himself and identified himself with this ridiculous little stunt where he thought he was going to perform some major service to Donald Trump.”

Raskin added that Schmitt’s questioning was “all about being the most obsequious sycophant you can be, and he proved that he was.”

“And he doesn’t even understand how much that he’s utterly humiliated himself in the eyes of the country,” he added.

Burnett asked if Schmitt will apologize to Smith for the mix-up, to which Raskin answered, “Well, not from the looks of it.” Smith at first denied attending the game before Schmitt’s staff displayed a poster of texts of the ex-federal prosecutor’s staff discussing seat numbers, and Schmitt said “for context” the date of the game was just after Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) acknowledged a romance with a colleague, an incident that shook up the 2020 election interference case in Georgia against President Trump. The former special counsel’s demeanor changed to confusion as he denied what Schmitt accused him of, saying he attended an Iowa Hawkeyes game in Maryland to watch Caitlin Clark play. Footage of the game , where he was spotted in the crowd, has since circulated on social media. Schmitt concluded his questioning, after lawmakers pushed back over the specifics of the two teams, by calling Smith a “dirtbag” and a “villain.” Senate Democrats accused the Missouri Republican of airing a conspiracy theory, but the senator has gone on to promote the inquiry on conservative media. Nonpartisan outlets also questioned him about the gaffe, including Nexstar affiliate KTVI St. Louis. Schmitt defended himself , saying his job is “to ask the questions, and his job is to answer the questions.” As to whether or not he believed Smith perjured himself, Schmitt has said “we’ll see.” Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), who also sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee with Schmitt, accused the Republican senator of peddling a false narrative in accusing the former federal prosecutor of being “at a game that you were nowhere near.” Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) also weighed in during the hearing, saying, “It looked like he had text messages suggesting that Jack Smith was at some sporting event he wasn’t at, and he hoped to catch Jack Smith in some false statement.” “It turns out the only thing false was the presentation,” he added.

Burnett asked if Schmitt will apologize to Smith for the mix-up, to which Raskin answered, “Well, not from the looks of it.”

Smith at first denied attending the game before Schmitt’s staff displayed a poster of texts of the ex-federal prosecutor’s staff discussing seat numbers, and Schmitt said “for context” the date of the game was just after Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) acknowledged a romance with a colleague, an incident that shook up the 2020 election interference case in Georgia against President Trump.

The former special counsel’s demeanor changed to confusion as he denied what Schmitt accused him of, saying he attended an Iowa Hawkeyes game in Maryland to watch Caitlin Clark play. Footage of the game , where he was spotted in the crowd, has since circulated on social media.

Schmitt concluded his questioning, after lawmakers pushed back over the specifics of the two teams, by calling Smith a “dirtbag” and a “villain.”

Senate Democrats accused the Missouri Republican of airing a conspiracy theory, but the senator has gone on to promote the inquiry on conservative media.

Nonpartisan outlets also questioned him about the gaffe, including Nexstar affiliate KTVI St. Louis. Schmitt defended himself , saying his job is “to ask the questions, and his job is to answer the questions.” As to whether or not he believed Smith perjured himself, Schmitt has said “we’ll see.”

Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), who also sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee with Schmitt, accused the Republican senator of peddling a false narrative in accusing the former federal prosecutor of being “at a game that you were nowhere near.”

Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) also weighed in during the hearing, saying, “It looked like he had text messages suggesting that Jack Smith was at some sporting event he wasn’t at, and he hoped to catch Jack Smith in some false statement.”

“It turns out the only thing false was the presentation,” he added.