Eric Schmitt was warned about unvetted Jack Smith 'gotcha' texts before blunder: report
Schmitt used unverified text messages to accuse Jack Smith of perjury during a Senate hearing.
SOURCE CHECK
TAP FOR WHYRaw Story is an established digital news outlet, but this article relies substantially on reporting attributed to MS NOW and unnamed sources. The byline and named outlet attribution provide some transparency, while the limited sourcing in the article constrains confidence in its institutional reporting.
- Source type — A national digital news outlet with an established publishing presence.
- Author attribution — The article names an author and attributes key reporting to MS NOW and to sources, though some sources are anonymous.
- Editorial standards — The text does not provide enough information to assess corrections practices or standards in depth.
The article attributes its central claims to MS NOW and several sources, including anonymous sources, and includes a request for comment from Schmitt’s office and the Justice Department. It supplies details about the hearing and the text evidence but offers limited independent sourcing or responses from the people criticized.
HOW WE SCORE ↗The article includes Smith’s denial and describes information undermining the cited texts, and it notes that requests for comment were made. However, its central account relies on unnamed sources and does not include a substantive response from Schmitt or the Justice Department.
- Source diversity — Multiple sources are cited, but several are anonymous and the reporting is attributed to MS NOW.
- Counterarguments presented — Smith denies attending the Hawks game; no substantive response from Schmitt or the Justice Department appears.
- Omitted context — The article gives little context about the underlying investigation or the provenance of the texts.
- Loaded language — The headline uses the evaluative term “blunder,” while the article body is mostly attributed reporting.
The article frames Schmitt’s questioning as a blunder and emphasizes that staff had warned him the texts were unverified. Its account is critical of Schmitt, though it presents that criticism through attributed reporting rather than an extended argument.
- Headline — The headline calls the episode a blunder and foregrounds a warning Schmitt allegedly ignored.
- Framing — The story centers on the risk that Schmitt used unverified material to accuse Smith of perjury.
- Source selection — The account relies on sources describing the warning and on MS NOW reporting, with no response from Schmitt’s office included.
A report says Senate Judiciary Republicans warned Sen. Eric Schmitt that texts he used to accuse former special counsel Jack Smith of perjury were unverified. Smith disputed being at the Atlanta Hawks game Schmitt cited, and the article says the seat number in the texts did not exist.
MS NOW reported that Republican Senate Judiciary staff warned Schmitt before Smith’s testimony that the Justice Department texts had not been verified. According to sources cited in the report, Schmitt had requested material linking Smith’s investigation of Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election with Fani Willis’ Georgia case, and committee staff said verification was his team’s responsibility.
At the hearing, Schmitt suggested Smith had attended an Atlanta Hawks game and said Smith had perjured himself. Smith denied attending the game, then recalled going to a women’s college basketball game in Maryland that day. MS NOW reported that the seat number cited in the texts did not exist. The article also reports that Chuck Grassley’s team left the texts out of its hearing memo and did not share them with Democratic senators; Schmitt’s office and the Justice Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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SWIPE →Senator who used unverified text messages to accuse Jack Smith of perjury
Senate Judiciary Committee chair whose team handled the texts before the hearing
Part of a bigger story
10 OUTLETSOutlets agree that at a Senate hearing, Eric Schmitt questioned Jack Smith about an Atlanta Hawks game, while Smith said he attended an Iowa Hawkeyes game instead. The exchange centered on a mix-up over which game the messages referred to. Left-leaning outlets frame the episode as a failed gotcha, stressing the mix-up and, in some coverage, unverified information or potential Republican political fallout. Center outlets focus on the error and Schmitt’s defense, alongside criticism from other senators and the moment’s viral attention. Right-leaning outlets also stress the accusation’s unraveling, while highlighting the viral reaction and, in one column, its implications for Schmitt’s political prospects.
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