Newsweek is reporting that a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing featuring former special counsel Jack Smith produced an embarrassing moment for a freshman Republican senator. It said Sen. Eric Schmitt of Missouri accused Smith of traveling to Atlanta in February 2024 under the cover of attending an Atlanta Hawks game when he was allegedly meeting with Fani Willis and Fulton County prosecutors pursuing President Donald Trump over interference in Georgia's 2020 vote count. Newsweek said Smith denied recalling attending an NBA game or being in Atlanta at that time.
According to Newsweek, Schmitt then displayed a posterboard of staff emails appearing to reference "the Hawks game" and accused Smith of perjury, calling him a "dirtbag." Newsweek said Smith reviewed the emails and realized they referred to an Iowa Hawkeyes game — the college basketball team Caitlin Clark played for — which Smith had attended when Iowa faced the University of Maryland in February 2024. Newsweek said the premise of an alleged secret meeting with Willis rested on a misunderstanding about basketball team names.
Newsweek said the exchange undercut what was meant to be Schmitt's prominent moment. It said Axios had published a "scoop" that morning, apparently provided by Schmitt's camp, describing the senator as close with Vice President JD Vance and a potential running mate in 2028. Newsweek said the hearing was a political maneuver by Republicans ahead of the election, and that Schmitt's humiliation overshadowed the rest of the proceedings.
Separately, Newsweek is reporting that the White House launched America.gov, an AI-powered portal tying together government services. It said the event resembled an Apple product launch, with Marco Rubio leading the presentation. Newsweek said the site promises to let Americans complete tasks such as renewing passports or changing their names through a single form, rather than visiting multiple agencies.
Newsweek said the portal could genuinely improve people's lives by saving time and hassle, assuming it works, and described it as a strong example of using technology to make government more efficient. It said the launch gives an AI-skeptical public a practical use case for the technology. Newsweek also said the two moments offered a preview of the 2028 Republican primary, contrasting Schmitt's stumble with Rubio's polished presentation.