Florida Bar Association Opens Investigation Into Matt Gaetz After ‘High Volume’ of Complaints Over Cohen Tweet

Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida has taken a lot of heat over the last day for his tweet directed at Michael Cohen on the eve Wednesday’s committee hearing. And that looks like it’s getting hotter.

The now-deleted tweet is reportedly the subject of an ethics inquiry by the Florida State Bar Association on the grounds that it may have constituted threatening a witness.

Multiple outlets, including the Daily Beast and the Orlando Sentinel, have spoken to representatives of the association about an investigation, and the association has posted a notice in the attorney discipline and complaints section of their website due to the “high volume of calls and emails” about Rep. Gaetz.

“Any time the words or actions of a Florida lawyer result in complaints, The Florida Bar will fully investigate those complaints through its established grievance process to determine if Bar rules have been violated,” the statement reads in part. “The Florida Bar is quite aware of the comments made in a tweet yesterday by Rep. Matt Gaetz, who is a Florida Bar member, and we have opened an investigation.”

In today’s hearing, Rep. Stacey Plaskett (D-VI) brought up the idea of a House ethics investigation of Rep. Gaetz over the tweeted threat.

“As a former prosecutor and as former counsel on House Ethics, I think there should be a referral to the Ethics Committee of witnessing intimidation or tampering,” she said, and also mentioned the possibility of criminal charges.

[Featured image via screengrab]

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Follow Caleb Howe (@CalebHowe) on Twitter

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