Sports and politics intersected in some weird ways this week, aside from the Protect College Sports Act.
First, while watching the 49ers beat Arizona, I saw the Trump campaign ad the Department of Homeland Security illegally paid lots of our money to air. Then I saw the Senate hearing in which a Missouri senatorial buffoon embarrassed himself while trying to embarrass former special prosecutor Jack Smithy, because apparently neither senator nor staff could distinguish the professional (male) Atlanta Hawks basketball team from the college Iowa Hawkeyes.
The ad was literally an entire 2024 campaign ad we paid to re-air because it rails against communism and shows Mr. Trump striding resolutely, almost heroically, down a White House hallway. That plainly violates several laws.
The Hatch Act Federal employees (not including the President) from using public time or resources to take partisan stands. Someone could be criminally indicted.
Trump and minions made illegal use of appropriated money. The laws forbid using government money for “publicity or propaganda purposes” unless Congress has authorized the expenditure. The Government Accountability Office has interpreted those restrictions to prohibit, communications that are purely partisan or designed to aid a political party or candidate.
The GAO should be investigating and reporting the crime to Congress.
Then Missouri Republican U.S. Senator Eric Schmitt took aim at Jack Smith and shot himself in the foot. Or somewhere. Smith was the special prosecutor who brought charges against Donald Trump. Trump has sought revenge against everyone involved, even alleging that his widespread legal problems – a civil jury finding him guilty of sexual misconduct toward a woman in a store, then of defaming her; Georgia’s prosecution of his demand that Georgia officials “find more votes” for him in 2020; and his involvement in trying to scare Congress into overturning the national vote that year – were just a vast, secret conspiracy to harm Donald Trump.
Smith has testified repeatedly, and very effectively. Someone was unwise in scheduling for this month, another public chance for Smith to say, quietly but convincingly, that he brought charges against Trump only because the evidence required it, beyond a reasonable doubt.
Trumpists wanted to suggest that Smith conferred with the Georgia state prosecutor. Schnmitt’s staff had found what he considered a smoking gun. He grandly asked Smith if he’d attended a February 2024 game between the Golden State Warriors and the Atlanta Hawks. Smith said he sure hadn’t. Schmitt said that since Smith didn’t “know that we have this stuff,” he’d show Smith a big blow-up of texts from Smith’s staff about the game, “so you don’t perjure yourself”; but he pulled that down before Smith could read it, calling Smith “a total dirtbag,” which didn’t sound too senatorial.
When Scmitt was made to put the thing up again, Smith admitted that around then, wanting to see Caitlan Clark play, he’d attended an Iowa Hawkeyes game in Maryland. What depth of stupidity and carelessness is required to confuse a Hawkeye and a Hawk, or women’s college hoops and the NBA, then call a guy a perjurer without taking a second look at your supposed evidence? Lawyering, I never did anything near so stupid; and very rarely saw any opponent do so.
Schmitt tried to recover by saying that at least he and Smith were both basketball fans – though Schmitt’s blunder suggested he knew little about the sport.
A hearing timed to help Republicans win elections may not help much.
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[The above column appeared on the 4th of October, 2026, in the Las Cruces Sun-News and on the newspaper's website, and will be up presently on KRWG’s website. A shortened and sharpened radio commentary version of this Sunday column will air during the week on KRWG and on KTAL-LP (101.5 FM ).]
