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Senator Kennedy Clashes With Special Counsel Jack Smith at Hearing

Republican senator questioned Smith on investigations and phone record requests during a Senate Judiciary Committee session.

AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made

Published Updated
Former Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on September 29, 2026.

What this story says

  • Senator John Kennedy and former special counsel Jack Smith engaged in a heated exchange during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.
  • Kennedy accused Smith of political bias and questioned his independence, while Smith asserted his charging decisions were based on strong evidence.
  • The hearing focused on Smith's investigations into Donald Trump and his methods, including the obtaining of phone records.
  • Smith stated that charging decisions were his own and made independently under special counsel regulations.

Who covered it

Left 10%(1)Centre 10%(1)Right 80%(8)

Percentages are shares of the 10 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. Coverage measured .

Trust

50/100

Craft

60/100

Hype

45/100

10 sources · methodology

Missing from the left

Only 1 of the 10 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated left.

A reader who follows the left would not have seen this. We report the absence rather than explain it: outlets choose what to cover for many reasons, and we have no evidence about which one applies here.

Senator John Kennedy and former special counsel Jack Smith clashed repeatedly during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday. Kennedy, a Republican, questioned Smith about his investigations into former President Donald Trump and his role as special counsel. Smith defended the independence of his work, stating that charging decisions were his own and based on "incredibly strong evidence."

The hearing provided an opportunity for Republicans to scrutinize Smith's handling of federal cases against Trump. Kennedy's questioning touched on whether President Biden or Attorney General Merrick Garland influenced Smith's decisions. Smith testified that he informed Garland of his charging decisions but had no knowledge of any discussions Garland may have had with Biden or White House officials. Smith also stated that under special counsel regulations, his decisions were made independently.

Disagreements on questioning and conduct

Newsweek reported that Kennedy accused Smith of political bias and that Smith defended the independence of his investigations. Newsweek also stated Kennedy questioned Smith about his appointment as special counsel and his knowledge of any involvement by President Biden in charging decisions. Raw Story and Mediaite reported that Senator Dick Durbin intervened after Kennedy's questioning, with Raw Story stating Durbin cut off Kennedy after he "hector[ed] former special prosecutor Jack Smith with a string of insults and bizarre questions." Mediaite reported Kennedy told Smith, "You make me want to throw up in my mouth."

What the coverage left out

None of the right-rated digests mention Senator Chris Coons's defence of Jack Smith's work or his objection to Kennedy's interruptions. None of the right-rated digests mention Senator Amy Klobuchar's exchange with Senator Eric Schmitt regarding Smith's whereabouts during a basketball game.

Coverage settled. We checked this 38 times and stopped on 4 Oct 2026, 21:45. The figures above are what it finished at.

How each side covered it

Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.

Left

1 rated outlet

  • Left-rated outlets led on Senator Eric Schmitt's confusion between the Atlanta Hawks and the Iowa Hawkeyes. The Independent's full report stated Schmitt accused Jack Smith of perjury after Smith denied attending an Atlanta Hawks game. Smith clarified he had seen the Iowa Hawkeyes play in Maryland.
  • Several left-rated digests reported that Senator John Kennedy told Smith, "You make me want to throw up in my mouth." Raw Story and Mediaite noted Senator Dick Durbin cut off Kennedy after his remarks.
  • The Independent's report highlighted Senator Katie Britt's reaction to Schmitt's gaffe. Other left-rated outlets noted the mix-up went viral on social media, with HuffPost quoting a user describing Britt as "aghast, perplexed, befuddled and all sorts of confused."

Centre

1 rated outlet

  • Newsweek, the centre-rated report, detailed the repeated clashes between Senator John Kennedy and Jack Smith. It noted Kennedy accused Smith of political bias while Smith defended his independence. The report quoted Kennedy's unusual questions, including references to the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny, and Smith's responses. Newsweek also mentioned Kennedy's questioning about phone records connected to Republican lawmakers and his assertion that these actions violated the Speech or Debate Clause.

Right

8 rated outlets

  • The right-rated reports focused on Senator John Kennedy's aggressive questioning of Jack Smith. U-S-NEWS.COM reported Kennedy questioned Smith about his personal politics and how he obtained phone records. Times of India and Washington Examiner highlighted Kennedy's statement, "You make me want to throw up in my mouth," with Times of India adding Kennedy accused Smith of "lying." Twitchy reported Kennedy "fiercely challenge[d]" Smith, while RedState noted Kennedy "nails Jack Smith to the wall" with questions about alleged bias and constitutional violations.

Questions about this coverage

How did the left and right cover Senator Kennedy Clashes With Special Counsel Jack Smith at Hearing?
Of the 10 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 10% are rated left, 10% are rated centre, 80% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
Is Senator Kennedy Clashes With Special Counsel Jack Smith at Hearing left or right?
Too few of the outlets on this story carry a published leaning rating to say. 10 of them do, and this site does not characterise a field under 12: at that size one newsroom filing moves the share by ten points. The percentages above are the count as it stands.
Is the coverage of Senator Kennedy Clashes With Special Counsel Jack Smith at Hearing biased?
Senator Kennedy Clashes With Special Counsel Jack Smith at Hearing is one event reported by 10 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
Which side is not reporting Senator Kennedy Clashes With Special Counsel Jack Smith at Hearing?
When we first saw this story, outlets rated left had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
Which outlets covered Senator Kennedy Clashes With Special Counsel Jack Smith at Hearing?
10 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
What was the main point of contention between Senator Kennedy and Jack Smith?
Senator John Kennedy repeatedly clashed with former special counsel Jack Smith, accusing him of political bias. Smith, in turn, defended the independence of his investigations, stating that his charging decisions were his own and based on strong evidence.
What specific topics did Senator Kennedy raise during the hearing?
Senator Kennedy questioned Jack Smith about his appointment as special counsel, his knowledge of any involvement by President Biden in charging decisions, and the process of obtaining phone records connected to Republican lawmakers. He also used colourful analogies and made critical remarks about Smith's conduct.
How did Jack Smith respond to the accusations of bias?
Jack Smith consistently defended the independence of his investigations. He stated that his charging decisions were made solely by him, under special counsel regulations, and were based on "incredibly strong evidence" he and his team had accumulated.

Read it at the source

167 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.

Left

54
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Centre

66
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Right

28
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Not rated

19
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How did this read?

About the coverage, not about the story. We do not ask whether you agree with what happened — we have no honest use for that answer.

Kennedy and Smith Senate Hearing | MediaBias News