Rep. Gaetz Blasted for Threatening Michael Cohen: ‘This is Mafioso Intimidation’
Congressman Matt Gaetz (R-FL) sent out what can only be described as an extremely WTF tweet at former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen today.
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…
— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) February 26, 2019
The Florida Republican congressman was immediately pilloried for the threatening tweet ahead of Cohen’s public testimony tomorrow:
A tweet in which a sitting member of Congress tries his hand at witness intimidation: https://t.co/tSdtKvgDjb
— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) February 26, 2019
It’s like someone tried to program a witness intimidation bot https://t.co/b3Y3QhJRCb
— Benjy Sarlin (@BenjySarlin) February 26, 2019
This should not be legal. Intimidating a witness before Congress should be against the law. https://t.co/uVBZR3NzXf
— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) February 26, 2019
What’s next, seating Frank Pantangeli’s brother in the witness section? https://t.co/uBA8SABHC2
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) February 26, 2019
There’s not even a hypothetical charitable read of this I can come up with where this is anything other than Mafioso intimidation. https://t.co/wR5b84uMCG
— Julian Sanchez (@normative) February 26, 2019
Huh? This is from a member of Congress? It reads a bit threatening. https://t.co/FM9egytNcF
— Billy House (@HouseInSession) February 26, 2019
Here’s a House Republican openly intimidating Michael Cohen as he testifies on Capitol Hill… https://t.co/DvFLe0tZjO
— Sabrina Siddiqui (@SabrinaSiddiqui) February 26, 2019
/3 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. https://t.co/IcYiMRkJGP
— EmergenHat (@Popehat) February 26, 2019
If I’m following, a Congressman just threatened to out a witness’s alleged affair and implied that the witness’s wife will cheat on him. https://t.co/Bf1kK7s1Dh
— Shannon Pettypiece (@spettypi) February 26, 2019
I’d tell you to take this tweet down, but TBH I think it’s a great legacy item for you. https://t.co/72aZmQ7qip
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) February 26, 2019
It’s hard to outsleaze Cohen, but congrats!
— Brian Beutler (@brianbeutler) February 26, 2019
I don’t know if this is witness tampering. But I’m pretty sure it might be plagiarism from Goodfellas or The Sopranos. https://t.co/S5khZav9iO
— Scott Simon (@nprscottsimon) February 26, 2019
It’s insane that a member of Congress is tweeting this https://t.co/CH6h3O3GvQ
— Garrett Ventry (@GarrettVentry) February 26, 2019
Threatening a witness. On twitter. https://t.co/nVSsqx7o4v
— Soledad O’Brien (@soledadobrien) February 26, 2019
Hey @mattgaetz – Does your personal attorney know you’ve just engaged, very clearly, in the crime of witness tampering? Maybe tonight would be a good time for that chat. https://t.co/d4d1O7nnMw
— Ryan Goodman (@rgoodlaw) February 26, 2019
[image via screengrab]
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