Scott Jennings throws in the towel on GOP's disastrous attack on Jack Smith
Schmitt’s questioning of Jack Smith became the focus of criticism from commentators after the hearing.
SOURCE CHECK
TAP FOR WHYAlternet is rated 46 by the site, and this page is categorized as opinion. The article attributes the CNN panel’s remarks, but the provided page gives limited information about reporting methods or corrections practices.
- Source type — Opinion-category publisher; this is a strong reason to score below established straight-news outlets.
- Track record — The site's own rating is 46, based on 133 stories.
- Author attribution — An author is named, and the article attributes remarks to the CNN panelists.
- Transparency — The page provides little visible detail about its reporting or correction practices.
The piece recounts a specific televised exchange and attributes its central claims and judgments to named panelists. It offers some competing perspectives, but relies heavily on commentary and gives little independent context or response from Schmitt or Smith.
HOW WE SCORE ↗The article includes Jennings’s defense of Republican concerns as well as Honig’s criticism of Smith and the senators’ tactics. Its loaded framing and reliance on a television panel, without responses from the principal participants, leave it short of a balanced account.
- Counterarguments presented — Jennings defends the broader Republican concerns, while Honig presents criticisms of Smith and the senators’ approach.
- Loaded language — The headline and narration characterize the Republican attack in strongly negative terms.
- Source diversity — The article draws on several panelists but does not include direct responses from Schmitt or Smith.
- Opinion vs reporting — The piece is opinion-framed and uses judgments alongside its recap of the exchange.
The headline and opening frame the Republican attack as disastrous, and the article uses disparaging language about Schmitt’s performance. It does include Jennings’s defense of broader Republican concerns, but the overall presentation favors criticism of the GOP approach.
- Headline — Calls the attack disastrous and frames Jennings as conceding defeat.
- Language tone — Uses phrases such as “fumbled,” “half-baked,” and “decimated” to characterize the exchange.
- Source selection — Includes a defense of Republican concerns from Jennings, but gives substantial space to criticism from other panelists.
- Framing — Presents the episode chiefly as a failed Republican attack rather than as a neutral hearing recap.
At a Senate hearing, Eric Schmitt’s attack on Jack Smith faltered after Smith disputed Schmitt’s account. On CNN, Scott Jennings acknowledged Schmitt’s mistake while defending broader Republican concerns about Smith’s investigation.
The article says Sen. Eric Schmitt claimed to have text messages placing former special prosecutor Jack Smith in Atlanta in February 2024, but Smith said he had attended a different game. CNN analyst Alex Thompson called Schmitt’s exchange a “face plant,” and Scott Jennings described it as a mistake while saying Republicans had legitimate concerns about Smith’s access to congressional and other records.
Former prosecutor Ellie Honig argued that Republicans had chosen an ineffective way to criticize Smith and listed other criticisms of his conduct in the Trump prosecution. Jennings agreed that Smith had made mistakes, while Kasie Hunt said Honig had made a better argument than the senators at the hearing.
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Former prosecution target whose rights are discussed in Honig’s criticism of Smith
Part of a bigger story
12 OUTLETSFormer special counsel Jack Smith testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee about his investigations of Donald Trump. Eric Schmitt questioned him about an alleged Atlanta basketball-game visit; Smith said he attended a different game. Left-leaning outlets portray Schmitt’s questioning as a failed attack built on an apparent mix-up, and stress that he continued defending his accusation. Center outlets focus on the basketball-game discrepancy while also covering the broader hearing about Smith’s investigations and subpoenas. Right-leaning outlets emphasize Republican challenges to Smith over his Trump investigations, while also recounting the disputed basketball-game allegation.
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