Republicans have struggled mightily to substantiate Trump’s desire for Smith to be charged criminally. But rarely has it seemed to backfire like it did Tuesday.

Sen. Eric Schmitt of Missouri crafted an apparent conspiracy theory about Smith being tied to the prosecution of Trump in Fulton County, Georgia. To substantiate his theory, Schmitt cited text messages he suggested showed Smith had been at an Atlanta Hawks game on February 3, 2024 – the day after Fulton County prosecutor Fani Willis and special prosecutor Nathan Wade admitted to an affair.

Smith appeared dumbfounded, though. He denied going to a Hawks game and said he had no recollection of even being in Atlanta.

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But by this point, Smith seemed to put it together. He said he was not at a game featuring the Atlanta Hawks, but rather the University of Iowa Hawkeyes women’s basketball team – which then featured Caitlin Clark – at the University of Maryland in the Washington, DC, area.

Smith’s recollection matches up with a game played that day.

The scene epitomized how speculative and thinly constructed the GOP’s allegations about Smith, Trump’s foes and about the justice system being weaponized against Trump have been. Likewise, the GOP’s other major perjury allegation against Smith rests on a complete misreading of the evidence.

Smith obtained the call logs of a dozen Republican senators as part of his investigation into Jan. 6 — and Tuesday was their first chance to press him on the supboenas.

Smith described toll records, which are essentially call logs, as “noncontent records” that were important for mapping out communication among different parties.

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Smith said the records showed Trump’s efforts to coordinate with lawmakers to delay certification as well as those who contacted the White House in alarm.

“We gained evidence [of people] reaching out to the White House, asking, ‘Please help us. Please stop what’s happening. Please have your supporters stop attacking the Capitol,’” Smith said.