Schmitt's monstrous gaffe may have just cost his aide a White House job

Politico reports a GOP senator’s recent blunder was so bad it may already be impacting staff trying to flee the senator’s office.

“Ethan Harper, the general counsel to Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), was expected to leave his role on Friday and begin a new one in the White House Staff Secretary’s office next week, according to three people familiar with the plans granted anonymity to discuss them,” reports Politico. “But that transition was in doubt today following a congressional hearing that’s embroiled Schmitt in controversy, the people said.”

Politico reports that there is no evidence Harper was responsible for the monstrous gaffe Schmitt unleashed when he failed to trap former special investigator Jack Smith with allegations of colluding with other prosecutors investigating President Donald Trump.

On Tuesday, Jack Smith faced questioning at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, in which Republicans attempted to attack his investigations into Trump’s alleged corruption. At one point, Schmitt, with the aid of posters, tried to accuse Smith of colluding with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis in his investigations, basing his logic on Smith supposedly attending an Atlanta Hawks basketball game in February 2024.

But, as it turned out, Schmitt had bungled his teams, and Smith had actually attended an Iowa Hawkeyes women's college basketball game. Before he was brutally corrected, Schmitt went so far as to accuse Smith of perjury when he denied attending the Atlanta Hawks game. The incident was widely criticized, among pundits and Schmitt's own colleagues, as an embarrassing travesty.

But Harper was the staffer standing behind Schmitt, holding up a board displaying screenshots of text messages as the senator falsely accused Smith of lying to Congress about attending the basketball game, reports Politico. And the evidence on the board failed to establish that Smith was at an Atlanta Hawks game as Schmitt had planned. Sen. Amy Klobuchar(D-Minn.) suggested Schmitt get his facts “together” before throwing insults at his next inquiry.

Politico reports Harper’s move to the White House was set before Tuesday’s hearing, according to two of the sources talking to Politico.

“Harper’s planned move would take him from Schmitt’s office to the White House office that manages the flow of documents and other materials to the president,” Politico reports. “Harper, a Harvard Law graduate, previously worked for Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and D. John Sauer, then Missouri’s solicitor general. He also clerked for Judge W. Duane Benton of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.”

Politico reports Schmitt described Harper as a “crucial part of the judicial vetting process in his Senate office who interviews candidates for judicial openings.”

The White House declined to comment, according to Politico, and Schmitt’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

POLITICO attempted to contact Harper but calls were not immediately returned.