NBC’s Hallie Jackson Confronts Matt Gaetz After He Says Republicans Got Peek at Trump-Ukraine Call

MSNBC’s Hallie Jackson pressed Matt Gaetz (FL) on Wednesday after he hinted that he and other Congressional Republicans got an early look at the memo of President Donald Trump’s call with the Ukrainian president.

Gaetz told Jackson that he had a chance to review the transcript “and chat with the president about them.” The congressman said he was not alone when he went to the White House to see it, so Jackson drilled down on whether he was joined by any Democrats, or if he was only joined by fellow Republicans.

“When the president invited you and your colleagues over to the White House this morning, were there any Democrats also invited or was it just a group of Republicans?” she asked.

“It was a group of legislators,” Gaetz said, eventually explaining that his look at the memo was “contemporaneous” with the document’s release.

The interview continued with Gaetz launching into a defense of Trump’s call with President Volodymyr Zelensky. Jackson continued to focus on the question despite Gaetz’s deflections, however, saying, “It seems to me that you might have had an opportunity prior to other members of Congress — because you are close with the president — to get an earlier look at this transcript than others did.”

“Was that a meeting to get everybody on the same page with talking points as far as the president’s team and people that are close to him?” Jackson asked.

“There were no Democratic chairman there,” Gaetz answered.

“What did the president say to you about this transcript? Jackson continued. “What was his message to the Republicans apparently who were in this room getting a look at this, getting briefed on this? Did he seem comfortable releasing it?”

Watch Gaetz’s response above, via MSNBC.