At today's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) slammed Republicans' treatment of former Special Counsel Jack Smith, including Schmitt's false accusation against Smith that he'd been caught lying about attending a basketball game in Atlanta, Georgia, that turned out to be completely wrong.
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What Amy Klobuchar said
Written from the verified transcript and checked against it. Every figure links to the moment it was said.
Klobuchar, a former prosecutor and incoming chair of the Senate Rules Committee, clashed with Senator Eric Schmitt over his treatment of witness Jack Smith, demanding Schmitt apologize for calling Smith a 'dirtbag' based on a mistaken team name. She recounted her experience on January 6, 2021, describing the insurrection, the assault on Capitol Police, and the second walk with Vice President Pence to certify the electoral ballots. Klobuchar criticized President Trump for pardoning over 1,500 criminals, calling January 6 a 'day of love,' and attacking prosecutors. She questioned Smith about threats to law enforcement, the integrity of his staff, and the impact of firing career prosecutors. She highlighted that case assignments are often serendipitous, not chosen. Klobuchar confirmed Smith attended an Iowa-Maryland basketball game on February 3, 2024, in Maryland, where Iowa won 93-85, and demanded an apology for Schmitt's false implication.
Key takeaways
Klobuchar demanded Senator Schmitt apologize for calling Jack Smith a 'dirtbag' based on a mistaken team name.
She confirmed Smith attended the Iowa-Maryland game on February 3, 2024, in Maryland, where Iowa won 93-85.
Klobuchar criticized Trump for pardoning over 1,500 criminals who attacked the Capitol.
She argued firing career prosecutors who worked on January 6 cases weakens public safety.
Klobuchar recounted the second walk with Pence to certify electoral ballots over broken glass.
Mr. Chairman, then you're going to be able to allow the witness to see this fast poster board that we saw. Is that going to be included then in the record, so the witness can look at that at some point here before the hearing's over? Because we couldn't see what it said. And I'm a former prosecutor, too, and I have never seen anyone just say, 'What do you think of this?' and put it down.
We need a copy of the actual text. Can you give the witness the courtesy of giving him a copy of that?
Can the witness be allowed to comment now that he can see the chart? Should we maybe give him the chance to look at it and then go back at it so he can see it?
And if this is the correct basketball game, I recall going to a University of Maryland basketball game where Caitlin Clark was playing right around that time. And the Marshal Service was there with me. You could check if that was the exact date. It was Maryland playing Iowa, I think February of 2024. But again, you could check that out if that's what we're talking about.
Could it then be that University of Iowa is the Hawkeyes? Could that be it? And maybe before we show this kind of thing... I know. But if he was at an Iowa game, is that correct?
Whose questioning is this, by the way, Mr. Chairman? Are you using your time, Senator? Is this what this is? Are we just having like an open session here? Well, I'm glad you're trying to rehabilitate the witness, but it's not... I presented him with text messages about him wanting to meet with people that could have obviously been related to the prosecution that was coordinated with his office in Atlanta.
Well, I'm going to begin my questions now, but I think that people should have their facts straight before they accuse someone of being a dirtbag and not get the teams wrong.
Klobuchar, A. (2026, September 29). 'You Are Calling A Witness A Dirtbag!': Amy Klobuchar Spars With Eric Schmitt At Jack Smith Hearing [Interview transcript]. Forbes Breaking News. CEOInterviews.AI. https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/3209906/
MLA
Amy Klobuchar. "'You Are Calling A Witness A Dirtbag!': Amy Klobuchar Spars With Eric Schmitt At Jack Smith Hearing." Forbes Breaking News, 29 Sep. 2026. Transcript, CEOInterviews.AI, https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/3209906/.
BibTeX
@misc{klobuchar2026_3209906,
author = {Amy Klobuchar},
title = {'You Are Calling A Witness A Dirtbag!': Amy Klobuchar Spars With Eric Schmitt At Jack Smith Hearing},
howpublished = {Interview transcript, Forbes Breaking News. CEOInterviews.AI},
year = {2026},
month = {sep},
url = {https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/3209906/},
note = {Speaker-attributed transcript with timestamps}
}
