‘You make me want to throw up’: Republicans attack ex-special counsel Jack Smith at Senate hearing

Former special counsel Jack Smith, who led two criminal cases against Donald Trump in 2023, faced attacks from Republicans in a wide-ranging hearing on Tuesday that included a basketball mix-up, a reference to the tooth fairy and accusations of perjury.

In the Senate judiciary committee hearing on Tuesday, the Republican senator Eric Schmitt, of Missouri, raised perjury allegations against Smith, seemingly over a mix-up about the Atlanta Hawks and University of Iowa Hawkeyes basketball teams.

Schmitt, who called Smith a “dirtbag”, claimed the prosecutor went to Atlanta to attend a Hawks game on 3 February 2024, and insinuated Smith may have met with Fani Willis, the former Fulton county district attorney who brought state charges against Trump.

But Smith denied ever attending an Atlanta Hawks game. He later clarified that he attended a University of Iowa Hawkeyes game in Maryland to watch Caitlin Clark play.

The Democratic senator Amy Klobuchar, of Minnesota, admonished Schmitt for presenting the claim as evidence and accusing Schmitt of lying.

“I would just say, for a US senator to have false information, and imply, based on a confusion about the name of a team … that you were in another city, that you were somehow involved, that day, in what was happening in Georgia, and then call you a ‘dirtbag’, is something that deserves an apology,” Klobuchar said.

The Guardian has asked Schmitt’s office for comment.

The unusual exchange between Schmitt and Smith became a highlight of the hearing on social media.

Smith also testified to the Senate judiciary committee to defend his handling of two federal investigations into Trump – one related to efforts to overturn the 2020 election and the other regarding Trump’s mishandling of classified documents.

Both cases were dismissed before going to trial.

Republicans have accused Smith of bringing the investigations to undermine Trump and targeting Republicans in the process – including by subpoenaing phone records from members of Congress.

Smith has defended his practices, saying the subpoenas were necessary to collect evidence that Trump called members of Congress to try to delay the certification of the 2020 presidential election.

But Tuesday’s hearing was also defined by other tense exchanges between Republican senators and Smith.

The Republican John Kennedy, of Louisiana, appeared frustrated after raising accusations that former president Joe Biden or his White House staff told the then attorney general Merrick Garland to prosecute Trump – an allegation with no public evidence.

Smith said he did not know about conversations between Biden and Garland regarding the subject.

“Do you believe in the Tooth Fairy?” Kennedy asked Smith. “How about the Easter Bunny?”

The question elicited a response from Smith: “I no longer believe in the Easter Bunny.”

At one point, Kennedy told Smith: “You make me want to throw up in my mouth.”

Ted Cruz, a Republican senator from Texas who became increasingly angry while talking about Smith subpoenaing congressional members’ phone records, told Smith: “Javert from Les Mis would look at you with astonishment.”

Cruz insinuated that Smith used his position as a special counsel to target Republicans by requesting records from the Republican National Committee and other conservative lawmakers.

Darline Graham, the senator from South Carolina, used her time during the hearing to accuse Smith of “trying to bully” her brother, the late senator Lindsey Graham, and causing him stress with subpoenas.

But Smith pushed back on Darline Graham’s assertion.

“I believe your brother was a patriotic public servant. He was not a target of our investigation, and in fact he likely would have been a witness in our case,” Smith replied, adding that Lindsey Graham did not believe the 2020 election was stolen.

Democrats, meanwhile, used Tuesday’s hearing to highlight the 6 January 2021 attack on the US Capitol and accused Trump of inciting the violent mob with false claims of election fraud during the 2020 presidential election.

Cory Booker, the senator from New Jersey, declared the hearing “a farce”.

Booker and Delaware’s Chris Coons highlighted that the current administration had fired justice department staffers who worked on Smith’s team.

Despite the partisan divide over Smith’s appointment and prosecutions, Smith said he maintained a nonpartisan approach to the investigations into Trump and that his team had compiled enough evidence to prosecute the president.

“If asked whether to prosecute a former president today, based on the same facts, I would do so regardless of whether that president was a Republican or a Democrat,” Smith said in his opening statement.