Matt Gaetz, Florida's Own Trumpenis

GOP lawmaker accused of obstruction and witness intimidation after apparently threatening to publicly embarrass Michael Cohen one day before his congressional testimony

Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz drew swift backlash after sending out a tweet in which he appeared to threaten to release embarrassing details about Michael Cohen's personal life on the eve of Cohen's testimony before the panel.

Gaetz's tweet raised red flags among some legal experts, who said the congressman's statements could be seen as attempted witness intimidation and obstruction of justice.

Ken White, a criminal defense attorney at Brown, White, and Osborn LLP, wrote, "Dear Representative @mattgaetz .... are you represented by federal criminal defense counsel?"

"It sure seems like you're threatening Michael Cohen that if he testifies before Congress you, or people aligned with you, will bring out embarrassing details about him," White continued. "There's a whole bunch of obstruction statutes, sir, and if you're threatening to reveal embarrassing information to deter a witness from testifying before Congress, I think you need advice about whether you may be violating one or more of them."

The former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti also chimed in, writing, "This appears to be an attempt to intimidate a witness before he testifies before the House Oversight Committee tomorrow."

https://www.businessinsider.com/rep-matt-gaetz-michael-cohen-congressional-testimony-2019-2


Heh-heh-heh...

Saw that on the national news tonight.   UN-BLANKING-BELIEVABLE!!!  Gaetz's ass should be hauled in ex post haste.   But will anyone do a frigging thing about it??????

RealLindaL wrote:    But will anyone do a frigging thing about it??????

Well, the TV news producers will be doing their happy dance, but that's probably about all.




DAMN! I love me some Happy Dance!

Gaetz deleted the tweet under pressure, lock him up!



https://www.cbsnews.com/news/matt-gaetz-tweets-cryptic-warning-to-michael-cohen-ahead-of-hearing/

Matt Gaetz

@mattgaetz
· 6h
Speaker, I want to get the truth too. While it is important 2 create context around the testimony of liars like Michael Cohen, it was NOT my intent to threaten, as some believe I did. I’m deleting the tweet & I should have chosen words that better showed my intent. I’m sorry.


jolow
@allaboutjoysf
Matt Gaetz is a licensed attorney in Florida: Bar # 48962. He violated 18 U.S.C. § 1512. He could be charged with a felony for witness tampering but this is also grounds for disbarment. Feel free call the Florida Bar and file an official complaint. The number is 1-866-352-0707.

2,781
11:02 PM - Feb 26, 2019

You KNOW that having to apologize and delete his tweet had to just kill that arrogant prick, after gloating that Cohen would be the one who was embarrassed today. He must really be scared about getting disbarred and maybe do some prison time. He oughtta be, anyway, for all those DUIs.

Dumbass don't-even-know-how-to-smile fathead sociopath has to go to Pelosi and crouch and piddle and drag his belly on the ground. Man, that's gotta burn him up. And nobody deserves it more. What an imbecile.

Good to see the Florida Bar has opened an investigation into the matter, though I'd predict nothing will come of it:

https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/27/politics/gaetz-cohen-tweet-florida-bar/index.html

othershoe1030 wrote:Good to see Florida state bar association is investigating this weed. Perhaps he'll be disbarred? Seeing posts here about numerous drunk driving arrests, makes me wonder why Republican candidates can succeed in running for office with such backgrounds as this.

Keep hearing comments about Individual One's transgressions and asking what the Republican reaction would have been if President Obama had done a small fraction of such things. You know their hair would have been on fire. What's wrong with this picture?

Um, obviously there are people here who embellish or make up stories for who knows what reasons. The schmuck was indeed arrested once for DUI but the case was dropped for no evidence.

othershoe1030 wrote:Good to see Florida state bar association is investigating this weed. Perhaps he'll be disbarred? Seeing posts here about numerous drunk driving arrests, makes me wonder why Republican candidates can succeed in running for office with such backgrounds as this.

Keep hearing comments about Individual One's transgressions and asking what the Republican reaction would have been if President Obama had done a small fraction of such things. You know their hair would have been on fire. What's wrong with this picture?

Gaetz was arrested on suspicion of DUI on October 30, 2008, when he was 26 years old. He was driving home from a nightclub and was pulled over for driving 48 in a 35 mile-per-hour zone, according to the Tampa Bay Times. The SUV belonged to his father, State Senator Don Gaetz.

The deputy, identified as Chris Anglin of the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Department, wrote in the arrest report that Gaetz had been unsteady on his feet and that his eyes were bloodshot. Gaetz reportedly admitted to having had two beers and refused to perform a field sobriety test or take a breath test.





https://heavy.com/news/2019/02/matt-gaetz-dui-arrest-mugshot/

From FB:

Washington Monthly: The Most Deplorable Person of the Week: Matt Gaetz. Says reporter Nancy LeTourneau: I certainly hope that the people of his district are noticing that they sent a real scumbag to Washington to represent them.
She writes: Gaetz's witness threatening tweet to Michael Cohen isn't the only deplorable behavior we saw from Gaetz this week. On the day before Cohen testified, the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing about the Trump administration’s family separation policy, during which Rep. Ted Deutch (D-FL) released an explosive report.
"Thousands of accusations of sexual abuse and harassment of migrant children in government-funded shelters were made over the past four years, including scores directed against adult staff members, according to federal data released Tuesday.
"The cases include allegations of inappropriate touching, staff members allegedly watching minors while they bathed and showing pornographic videos to minors. Some of the allegations included inappropriate conduct by minors in shelters against other minors, as well as by staff members."

Given that the Trump administration basically put out a “pedophiles welcome” sign when they discontinued thorough background checks for staff working at migrant child detention facilities, a report like that should come as no surprise.
Just after Deutch finished questioning the panel about the report, it was Gaetz’s turn. Take a look the question he asked of the child welfare expert from DHS.
"Commander White, are people more likely to be sexually abused on their way into our country through the cartel and human trafficking routes or are they more likely to be abused if every allegation made against every U.S. government official were true, which would be the greater propensity for sexual violence."
Notice that Gaetz never acknowledged that the discussion was about children. Instead, he asked whether “people are more likely to be sexually abused.” It seems that, for Gaetz, our government is justified in sexually abusing children as long as they don’t do it as often as traffickers.

In response, Commander White re-set the table on the moral question by pointing out that “We don’t set ourselves the standard of just doing better than smugglers and traffickers.” Boom!

I can think of no human being that is more deserving of being named the most deplorable person of the week than Matt Gaetz. I certainly hope that the people of his district are noticing that they sent a real scumbag to Washington to represent them.

https://washingtonmonthly.com/…/the-most-deplorable-person…/

"I can think of no human being that is more deserving of being named the most deplorable person of the week than Matt Gaetz. I certainly hope that the people of his district are noticing that they sent a real scumbag to Washington to represent them."




I can think of no human being more deserving of being named the most deplorable person in Florida. The jury is out on the question of Gaetz being a human being and the same goes for those that he represents.

Dissecting the (Non-Helpful) Apology Text Rep. Matt Gaetz Sent Michael Cohen After Congressional Hearings


Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz (R), in the opinion of many, tampered with a witness in plain sight, the night before President Donald Trump‘s ex-lawyer Michael Cohen testified before the House Oversight Committee.

Given the timing of the text and the content of it — “Hey @MichaelCohen212 – Do your wife & father-in-law know about your girlfriends? Maybe tonight would be a good time for that chat. I wonder if she’ll remain faithful when you’re in prison. She’s about to learn a lot” — it seemed pretty clear that this was a threat. But Gaetz insisted that it was “witness testing” and that people were misinterpreting his words.

Eventually, Gaetz apologized saying he “should have chosen words that better showed my intent. I’m sorry.” It should be noted that Gaetz, who the night before a congressional hearing publicly threatened to expose extramarital affairs of the only witness, never actually did so and suggested that his words were slightly off.

On Sunday evening, yet another Gaetz apology was reported, this one by Vanity Fair.

Gaetz reportedly sent Cohen a text after (as in, not before) the hearings to say he was sorry, again emphasizing that it was “never” his intent to threaten Cohen. Not only that, Gaetz said it is “not who I am and [not] how I operate.”

“Mr. Cohen, this is Congressman Matt Gaetz,” he said. “I am writing to personally tell you I’m sorry for the tweet that I sent which many believe was threatening to you. It was never ever ever my intent to threaten you in any way.”

“While you don’t know me, that is not who I am and how I operate. I do not wish any harm to you or your family,” he added. “I was upset at what was transpiring and chose my words poorly. I will work to be better, as I know you said today you will as well. Have a good evening. – Matt.”


Let’s recap this: 1) he’s sorry people believe this was a threat (it’s not me, it’s them); 2) he didn’t intend for that to happen (it did); 3) he doesn’t operate this way (he did); 4) he didn’t wish harm to Cohen’s family (the tweet clearly suggested harm to family relationships would happen if the truth were exposed); 5) it was a poor choice of words caused by “what was transpiring.” That’s pretty vague, but it seems Gaetz is saying he was upset about what Cohen might say or what the implications of that would be for Trump.

Cohen’s response to Gaetz noticeably referenced his family’s “damaged” life and said the tweet did cause harm.

“Congressman Gaetz, I cannot thank you enough for your message. The tweet, sadly, has only made a bad situation worse […] not only for my wife but for my children as well,” he said. “With your permission, I would like to share your message with my wife and children. Hopefully, it will bring a little peace to their damaged life.”

Cohen also said, however, that “We all make mistakes especially in this crazy partisan time.” He thanked Gaetz, hoping that “the tweet does not cause you any harm.”

“If it does, and there is anything I can do to help you correct it, please feel free to reach out and I would be happy to assist,” Cohen added.

This offer for assistance may be in reference to reports that the Florida Bar was going to look into the matter. As Law&Crime’s Ronn Blitzer noted, the action taken here could range from mere reprimand to disbarment.

Florida’s guidelines for attorney discipline say that Gaetz would have 15 days to respond to a claim against him, and then a governing body would determine whether to move forward. Should they ultimately find him in violation of the rules of professional conduct, they can take action that includes suspension or revocation of his license, or merely a public reprimand.

Nor was it helpful for Gaetz that the following exchange with President Trump was overheard and reported: “I was happy to do it for you. You just keep killing it.” Needless to say, this was taken as an admission that Gaetz was happy to mess with Cohen for Trump. Gaetz did not clarify the conversation when asked about it, saying he doesn’t talk about what he and the president discuss on the phone.


Whether the Florida Bar cares about Cohen’s assistance in this matter remains to be seen. It’s also not clear if Gaetz has yet offered his best defense to the Florida Bar.



https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/dissecting-the-non-helpful-apology-text-rep-matt-gaetz-sent-michael-cohen-after-congressional-hearings/

The latest from the POS "representative" to the apparently uninformed voters of NW Florida: (excerpt):

Representative Matt Gaetz

U.S. Representative for the First District of Florida
1721 Longworth House Office Building | Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-4136

Hello, Friends —

Congress is moving ahead at full steam. Though the Mueller report is well behind us, some of my Democrat colleagues are having trouble seem to be having some difficulty coming to grips with the fact that President Trump did NOT in fact collude with Russia. Meanwhile, this is what conservatives have been saying all along!

On Wednesday, I introduced the Preventing Extreme Negligence with Classified Information Licenses (PENCIL) Act, which would remove Representative Adam Schiff’s chairmanship of the House Intelligence Committee. As a member of the “Gang of Eight,” Rep. Schiff is responsible for characterizing critical, sensitive intelligence information to the other members of Congress and the American people. For two years, he has (falsely!) claimed that there was “clear evidence on the issue of collusion,” and that the Trump campaign accepted help from the Russian government to win the presidency. The American people can’t trust him anymore — which is why every Republican member of the Intelligence Committee signed a letter asking for his resignation.

I unveiled my legislation live on Tucker Carlson on Wednesday night — watch it below:

[...]

He forgot to mention that Congress recessed before authorizing more funds for storm-ravaged parts of the country, due in part to the Orange Menace wanting to punish Puerto Rico...this is hurting people who've been hit by hurricanes, floods, fires, cyclones and extreme cold across the US.

Although he can't legally remove Adam Schiff from his committees, he's getting traction on the attempt to do so with people who don't understand the law...and, of course, the favor of the pretender.

(from my inbox)

More on Gaetz, Shithole Florida's favorite Hellboy.



Matt Gaetz Hires Speechwriter Fired From White House Over White Nationalist Conference

Dr. Darren Beattie was pushed out of the administration over his appearance alongside alt-right figures. Less than a year later, he has a new gig on the Hill.

One of President Donald Trump’s top congressional allies announced on Friday that he’d hired a speechwriter who left the White House last year after it was reported he’d spoken at a conference attended by white nationalists.

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) tweeted that he had brought on board “the talented Dr. Darren Beattie” to serve as a “Special Advisor for Speechwriting.”

Beattie, who has a PhD in political theory from Duke University, was an outspoken Trump supporter at Duke and wrote op-eds backing Trump’s candidacy and his policy positions. He later joined the administration as a full-time speechwriter and policy aide.

That administration job became imperiled after CNN’s KFILE investigative unit reported in summer 2018 that Beattie had spoken at a 2016 conference frequented by white nationalists like Richard Spencer, who also was a PhD student at Duke University. Beattie, who delivered a talk called “The Intelligentsia and the Right,” was on the program alongside Peter Brimelow, founder of the anti-immigrant website VDARE, and other alt-right figures.

According to The Washington Post, the White House in August asked Beattie to resign over his attendance at the conference. When he refused to do so, he was fired.

In a text to The Daily Beast, Gaetz said he had no issues with Beattie’s attendance at the conference, noting that Beattie had not been accused of saying anything bad himself but merely being in attendance while “other people said bad stuff.”

“I remember when the left tried this on America’s now most popular Governor,” Gaetz added, adding a link to a 2018 campaign story of how then-Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) attended the far-right Freedom Center conference four times. DeSantis went on to win the election despite being dogged for his attendance at that event.



https://www.thedailybeast.com/matt-gaetz-hires-dr-darren-beattie-speechwriter-fired-from-white-house-over-white-nationalist-conference

Cheers to Nadler and the Dems for cutting off the microphone of Matt Gaetz. Now if only more people in Florida would follow their lead. It will show the rest of our Nation that Floridians are striving to climb out of their shithole and leave sub human flotsam like Matt Gaetz to wallow in it.

More shit from Florida's biggest asshole and that's saying a lot.





Further investigation into Matt Gaetz is needed for tweet at Michael Cohen, Florida Bar determines.


The Panhandle Republican faces discipline for a message he posted the day before Trump’s former lawyer testified to Congress

An investigation into U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz will proceed, the Florida Bar said Wednesday, meaning the Panhandle Republican could face discipline for allegedly intimidating President Donald Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen.

A grand jury-like panel called the Grievance Committee will next decide whether there is probable cause that Gaetz’s tweet broke the state Supreme Court’s rules for lawyers. Gaetz, one of Trump’s top allies in Congress, is licensed to practice law in Florida.

If the Florida Bar had determined in its initial review that discipline was not warranted, then the case would have stopped. But it has not, meaning the Bar has decided that further investigation is needed.

In moving the case against Gaetz to this step, the Florida Bar is also signaling that its initial review determined that the allegations against Gaetz would, if proven true, be a violation of the rules.

Gaetz initially shrugged off the investigation in February, insisting the bar association must investigate all complaints. Now that the case has advanced beyond the initial inquiry, Gaetz "remains confident that the Florida Bar will not impair his vigorous and successful representation of his district,” spokeswoman Jillian Lane Wyant said in a statement.

The complaint against Gaetz stems from a menacing tweet he sent on Feb. 27, the eve of Cohen’s testimony before a House committee.

Gaetz wrote: “Do your wife & father-in-law know about your girlfriends? Maybe tonight would be a good time for that chat. I wonder if she’ll remain faithful when you’re in prison. She’s about to learn a lot...”

He has since deleted the tweet, but not before it went viral. Legal experts compared it to intimidation of a witness. Walter Schaub, the former director of the Office of Government Ethics replied to Gaetz’s tweet with the federal statute number for tampering with a witness. Sen. Rick Scott, a fellow Florida Republican, called the tweet, “disgusting.”

Gaetz, R-Fort Walton Beach, later said he “should have chosen words that better showed my intent. I’m sorry.” However, he maintained that he was not attempting to threaten Cohen, who was scheduled to testify before Congress the next day.






http://www.tampabay.com/florida-politics/buzz/2019/05/08/further-investigation-into-matt-gaetz-is-needed-for-tweet-at-michael-cohen-florida-bar-determines/

The twitter message to Cohen wasn't the only thing Gaetz was doing to influence outcomes of the Mueller investigation:

https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/17/politics/michael-flynn-mueller-matt-gaetz/index.html?fbclid=IwAR0tHJypUe3ve0v8L05a-MTlysbFgbqZW8zbIl1RGTT-TJeCOxa1t99w35I

*****

I wonder whether he's on the Flynn tapes.

Why do the people of Florida keep voting for this lying skidmark?

Matt Gaetz calls ethics investigation of Michael Cohen tweet a way to 'get to the president'

Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz brushed off a House Ethics Committee investigation of a tweet in which he seemed to threaten President Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen.

"Folks think they can get to the president through me because I work with the president a lot, talk to the president a lot," Gaetz said in a Fox News interview Friday.

The 37-year-old Republican, a frequent Trump defender, denies that he spoke with Trump about Cohen before suggesting he was an adulterer. "No, absolutely not," Gaetz said, asserting he had "no conversation like that with the president."

Gaetz's cryptic tweet, which he deleted and said was not meant to be a threat to Cohen, was issued in February as the former Trump lawyer testified to the House Intelligence Committee.

Cohen once said he would take a bullet for Trump, but facing tax and bank fraud charges, he cooperated with federal investigators and claimed Trump was a racist who continued working on a building project in Russia while campaigning to be president. He also implicated Trump after pleading guilty to a campaign finance violation for brokering hush money to women who claimed affairs with Trump.

“Do your wife & father-in-law know about your girlfriends?” Gaetz tweeted at Cohen as he testified. “Maybe tonight would be a good time for that chat. I wonder if she’ll remain faithful when you’re in prison. She’s about to learn a lot…”

Gaetz never released information on any alleged affairs. Cohen currently is serving a three-year prison sentence.



https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/matt-gaetz-calls-ethics-investigation-of-michael-cohen-tweet-a-way-to-get-to-the-president

Floridatexan wrote:

Wow, sounds like I'm not the only one that considers Florida a shithole state, certain parts of it at least, and Gaetz a corrupt turd. BTW Happy 4th of July Floridatexan to you and your family and thanks for all your great posts throughout the year.