Klobuchar’s knowledge of Midwest college sports comes in handy during hearing

U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, the Democratic-Farmer-Labor nominee for governor, leaned on her knowledge of Big Ten sports to embarrass a Republican colleague Tuesday over the otherwise weighty matter of President Donald Trump’s failed attempt to overturn the 2020 election.

Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Missouri, was grilling former U.S. Department of Justice special prosecutor Jack Smith — whose team secured indictments against Trump — and called him a “dirtbag.” Schmitt was eager to show Smith was colluding with Fulton County Attorney Fani Willis, whose Georgia case against Trump collapsed upon revelations that she’d had an affair with the local prosecutor on the case.

Schmitt’s evidence was a text message about Smith being at a “Hawks” game, which he wrongly believed put Smith in Atlanta to watch the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks.

The problem: wrong Hawks, which is where Klobuchar came in.

“Could it then be that the University of Iowa is the Hawkeyes? Could that be it? That might the confusion over the names of the team.”

Indeed, Smith said he was at a University of Iowa Hawkeyes game to see Caitlin Clark, who dropped 38 during the Feb. 3, 2024, victory against the University of Maryland Terrapins.

As Klobuchar began sussing out the error, Schmitt talked over her.

“You are calling a witness a dirtbag,” Klobuchar said.

Schmitt talked over her again.

“I think people should have their facts right before they call someone a dirtbag and not get the teams wrong. You have the teams wrong, sir,” Klobuchar said.

Then she began her questioning with this: “From the state of Minnesota where we have the Gophers. So there’s not a lot of confusion.”

During the high-profile Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Smith defended his prosecution of Trump, arguing that his investigations “developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt that President Trump engaged in criminal activity.”

The indictments alleged that Trump stole documents when he left the White House — including top secret national security documents — and conspired to overturn the 2020 election results.