Lioness star Michael Kelly slams John Kennedy as “Sen Hee.Haw” over displaying Eric Schmitt’s Jack Smith text prop that backfired

Michael Kelly, known for his role as CIA Deputy Director of Operations Byron Westfield in Lioness, called out Senator John Kennedy on Threads amid Jack Smith’s testimony during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.

Kelly took to the social media platform with his account, @realmichaelkelly, to reply to a Threads post which said:

“Sen. John Kennedy’s forest [sic] gump schtick really backfired yesterday, huh?”

Kelly posted a short dig at Kennedy, labelling him as:

“Sen Hee.Haw.”

The House of Cards star’s comment follows the September 29 Senate Judiciary Committee hearing where Jack Smith testified. According to a report in The Hill, Senator Eric Schmitt tried a “gotcha” with a poster board prop of text messages from Smith’s team. Kennedy helped display Schmitt’s prop during the hearing, which ultimately backfired.

Kelly’s comment also plays on Kennedy’s well-known folksy speaking style. Hee-Haw was an old rural comedy show full of corny country humor. Hence, the reference to “Senator Hee-Haw” paints the whole moment as clownish.

Continue reading for more details.

Details explored as Jack Smith’s text prop during Senate Judiciary Committee hearing backfires

During a recent Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Senator Eric Schmitt tried to imply that Special Counsel Jack Smith attended an Atlanta Hawks NBA game in Atlanta on February 3, 2024, by displaying texts.

For context, Schmitt tried to link it to a conspiracy by adding that it was the day after Fulton County DA Fani Willis publicly acknowledged her relationship with prosecutor Nathan Wade. To this, Smith replied:

“I definitely did not go to a Hawks game.”

Schmitt pressed hard and suggested that Jack Smith risks perjury. He called him a “dirtbag” while presenting the board. However, soon Schmitt’s staff removed the poster featuring the text messages, and it became clear that Schmitt and his staff had confused Smith’s attendance at an Iowa Hawkeyes basketball game for an Atlanta Hawks game.

Noting the confusion, Smith remarked:

“You just took it down really quick.”

Later, Jack Smith clarified that the texts referred to a women’s college basketball game he had attended in Maryland between the Iowa Hawkeyes and the Maryland Terrapins, which featured Caitlin Clark.

Senator Amy Klobuchar then responded by adding:

“Could it then be that University of Iowa was the Hawkeyes?”

Soon, Schmitt interjected that Klobuchar was trying to “rehabilitate the witness.” He then insisted that the text messages:

“could have obviously been related to the prosecution that was coordinated in his office in Atlanta.”

Klobuchar added:

“I think people should have their facts straight before they accuse someone of being a dirtbag, and not get the teams wrong.”

Democratic senators, led by Klobuchar slammed Schmitt for botching an accusation against Smith during the September 29 Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. She later recalled on CNN that Schmitt kept “yelling” at her and said:

“This is the last time I heard from him, saying, 'You can't use your time to rehabilitate the witness.' And I kind of figured the only one that needs rehabilitating right now is you.”

She added:

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“My lesson from all of it is: Don't ask questions when you don't know the answer. Don't have hearings.”

Klobuchar has demanded an apology from Schmitt. Senator Dick Durbin, the Illinois Democratic senator and committee ranking member, slammed Schmitt's line of questioning as reckless. Senators like Cory Booker and Adam Schiff joined Klobuchar in pushing back against the hostile line of questioning.

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