Caitlin Clark’s name has found its way into some unexpected places this season. After putting together a historic performance to help the Indiana Fever in Game 2 against the Las Vegas Aces, the Fever star was suddenly part of a conversation far removed from the WNBA. It was the hearing on Jack Smith’s investigations involving Donald Trump.

A question from Senator Eric Schmitt brought in a basketball element, specifically a game Smith may or may not have attended on February 3, 2024. Schmitt asked Smith if he had been at an NBA matchup between the Golden State Warriors and Atlanta Hawks that night. Smith’s response was immediate: “I definitely did not go to a Hawks game. I’m sure of that.”

He said he was not even sure he had been in Atlanta that day. Schmitt, however, continued, saying he had text messages that placed Smith at the Hawks game. When Senator Amy Klobuchar got her opportunity to question Smith, she asked him about his recollection of that particular day and Smith said he remembered watching Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes take on Maryland.

“I recall going to a University of Maryland basketball game where Caitlin Clark was playing right around that time and the marshal service was there with me. You could check if that was the exact date.”

Klobuchar then looked into the schedule and found that Caitlin Clark’s Iowa Hawkeyes had, in fact, played Maryland Terrapins in College Park on February 3, 2024. The Hawkeyes won the game 93-85, and Clark was the star of the night, pouring in 38 points. Suddenly, the apparent mystery surrounding Smith’s basketball whereabouts had a much simpler explanation.

Klobuchar pointed out the distinction and argued that the confusion called for an apology. Schmitt, however, did not provide one.

The Atlanta detail mattered because Schmitt was trying to establish whether Smith had been in the city while Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis was under scrutiny over her relationship with Nathan Wade, whom she had appointed as a special prosecutor in the Trump election case.

Smith also rejected the suggestion that he had ever met Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis or Nathan Wade. The Clark connection, however, did not end with the hearing itself.

Following the exchange, Schmitt told NBC News that prosecutors would ultimately determine whether the matter amounted to perjury. Later that evening, he returned to X with a much lighter reference to the basketball star.

“Who knew Jack Smith was a Caitlin Clark fan?” Schmitt wrote.

For a hearing that had little to do with basketball on paper, the sport ended up becoming one of its most memorable talking points. And Clark, despite having absolutely nothing to do with the proceedings, once again found her name attached to a headline far beyond the WNBA.