Oct 2, 2026 · 1h 5m
A failed perjury trap exposes politics built for spectacle
Sen. Schmitt’s Failed Attack on Jack Smith
The episode connects a weak congressional performance to a broader political culture that prizes viral moments and branding over evidence and durable policy.
- 1Eric Schmitt’s questioning of Jack Smith relied on ambiguous evidence that failed to establish the alleged meeting or perjury.
- 2The panel argues conservative media amplified a congressional spectacle before staff failures and weak preparation made its flaws unavoidable.
- 3Trump’s AI initiative raises familiar questions about self-regulation, technical expertise, and headline-driven policymaking.
Don't miss
The panel dismantles Eric Schmidt’s dramatic Jack Smith questioning by showing how ambiguous evidence and poor preparation defeated the intended perjury trap.
The brief
Jonah Goldberg and Kevin Williamson join Mike Warren to examine how Eric Schmitt’s questioning of Jack Smith turned an alleged perjury trap into political theater.
The panel argues that ambiguous texts, weak questioning, and the implausibility of a secret meeting at a televised Atlanta Hawks game undercut Schmitt’s presentation.
They trace the hearing’s reach through conservative media, asking how staff allowed a fragile case to become a viral performance before its weaknesses surfaced.
The conversation then turns to Trump’s “superintelligence” branding and a one-page AI self-regulation agreement, testing whether announcements can substitute for workable policy.
A closing discussion of Derek Thompson’s essay on declining dinner parties shifts the episode from institutional incompetence to the practical difficulty of making social life happen.
What was said on this episode
26 statements · 5 positive · 17 negative · 1 mixed · 3 neutral
The hearing evidence did not establish Schmidt’s alleged Atlanta Hawks meeting theory.
“The evidence, however, wasn't actually there.”
Listen at 7:22
Jack Smith was likely at a Maryland college basketball game, not an Atlanta Hawks game.
“it seems that Jack Smith was at a basketball game on that particular day. But in College Park, Maryland, 600 miles away, watching a college basketball game”
Listen at 7:45
Eric Schmidt’s attempted gotcha failed and embarrassed him.
“Eric Schmidt had a gotcha. that wasn't a gotcha at all and really kind of embarrassed himself.”
Listen at 7:58
Republican generic-ballot polling is currently very unfavorable.
“The generic ballot is so bad”
Listen at 10:42
The Senate’s Jack Smith investigation misreads voters’ priorities.
“the Senate thinks we're going to prove that we have our finger on the pulse of what the voters want by going after Jack Smith”
Listen at 11:19
The MAGA political orbit has demonstrated institutional sloppiness.
“it just shows you that in the MAGA orbit, to me, I know we're going to talk about this in a little bit, it's of a piece with them misspelling the United States of America”
Listen at 11:50
Schmidt’s team relied only on text messages that did not support his claim.
“literally the only piece of evidence that Schmidt and his team had were text messages that didn't say what he said that they said.”
Listen at 14:30
Schmidt appears to have sought publicity through the hearing.
“this really does look like that Schmidt was trying to set himself up to like become like the big sensation”
Listen at 17:29
The politicians pursuing theatrical schemes are ineffective at them.
“these people are not clever. They have their whole like sort of personality invested in this kind of cheap form of cleverness. And the irony is they aren't any good at it.”
Listen at 19:29
Humorous political incidents can break through partisan media silos.
“Something that's actually that funny is going to break through.”
Listen at 22:37
The Schmidt episode is unlikely to change support for or opposition to Trump.
“I don't think that this turns out anybody for Trump or against Trump.”
Listen at 25:43
The displayed sign did not prove the allegation against Jack Smith.
“That didn't prove anything.”
Listen at 30:27
Self-regulation is unlikely to reliably govern frontier AI companies.
“I do not have a great deal of faith in self-regulation per se for these kinds of companies.”
Listen at 36:40
The AI industry agreement will not prevent AI from becoming problematic.
“I don't think that this is going to be the thing that keeps AI from being a problem.”
Listen at 37:57
New federal AI regulation would probably provide little benefit.
“I also don't think that a new body of federal regulation would do a lot of good for it.”
Listen at 38:05
U.S. AI policy will not necessarily be replicated by China or other countries.
“whatever we do in the United States is not going to certainly be replicated in China and elsewhere.”
Listen at 38:21
Many AI-company executives do not fully understand their own products.
“A lot of these AI companies, their executives don't even understand their own product”
Listen at 39:45
Trump’s political relevance is declining continuously.
“his relevance declines every day”
Listen at 51:21
Trump’s political relevance will soon reach zero absent a successful second coup.
“short of a second and more successful coup, his relevance will be zero very soon.”
Listen at 51:24
Trump is financially benefiting from technology-related businesses and assets.
“Trump is getting rich. He's trading on these things.”
Listen at 52:25
Trump is unusually motivated by personal financial considerations.
“Trump is just different. Trump is like financially motivated.”
Listen at 53:23
Home dinners with friends are generally better than restaurant meals.
“Having dinner at home with friends is almost always better than going to a restaurant, including really good restaurants.”
Listen at 57:06
Conversation is easier at home dinner parties than in restaurants.
“It's easier to have a conversation at a dinner party at someone's home than it is to do that at a restaurant”
Listen at 57:30
Screens substantially contribute to declining socialization and hosting.
“I blame screens for a big part of it.”
Listen at 59:41
Young people will need deliberate instruction to develop socializing habits.
“we're going to have to teach a new generation to have more muscle memory, to build up muscle memory, to do these kinds of things more conscientiously”
Listen at 59:56
Families should make more effort to host dinner parties because they are rewarding.
“the rare times that we do, it's always a great time. So I think we need to embrace it.”
Listen at 1:02:27
Statements are attributed to the speaker as said on the episode and reflect their view at the time, not PodLume's. They are not advice.
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