A planned White House promotion for Sen. Eric Schmitt’s general counsel is reportedly now in jeopardy after the Missouri Republican’s attempted gotcha moment against former special counsel Jack Smith collapsed into public humiliation during a congressional hearing.
Ethan Harper had been set to leave his role advising Schmitt this past Friday to join the White House Staff Secretary’s office next week, three people familiar with the plans told Politico. But that transition is reportedly now uncertain following Tuesday’s hearing, where Harper stood behind Schmitt holding a poster board of text message screenshots meant to prove Jack Smith lied to Congress about attending a basketball game as cover for investigating President Trump.
The stunt backfired badly. The evidence displayed didn’t actually establish that Smith attended an Atlanta Hawks game as Schmitt had hoped. Smith said he instead recalled attending a University of Maryland women’s basketball game around that time, one featuring former Iowa star Caitlin Clark, prompting Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) to suggest Schmitt had simply mixed up the Iowa Hawkeyes with the Atlanta Hawks.
There’s no evidence Harper personally caused the mix-up, and two of the sources say his planned move to the White House was arranged well before Tuesday’s hearing took place. Furthermore, sources suggest the botched intel came from the White House itself.
Harper, a Harvard Law graduate who previously worked for Sen. Josh Hawley and then-Missouri Solicitor General D. John Sauer, also clerked for Eighth Circuit Judge W. Duane Benton. Schmitt has described him as a key player in vetting judicial nominees for his Senate office.
Neither the White House nor Schmitt’s office responded to requests for comment, and Harper could not be reached for comment either.
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