s******r
发帖数: 5309 | 1 Matt Gaetz apologizes and deletes tweet but insists he wasn’t threatening
Michael Cohen
LIVE
Watch live coverage and analysis as Michael Cohen testifies on Capitol Hill
President Trump's former lawyer is expected to offer insight into President
Trump as a person and businessman when he publicly testifies Feb. 27. (The
Washington Post)
By Meagan Flynn and
Rachael Bade February 27 at 8:44 AM
Hours after sending an incendiary tweet accusing Michael Cohen of infidelity
, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) apologized late Tuesday, insisting he did not
intend to threaten President Trump’s former lawyer on the eve of his highly
anticipated testimony before Congress.
Without evidence, Gaetz suggested earlier Tuesday that Cohen, who is married
, had multiple “girlfriends,” prompting some legal observers and Democrats
to accuse the Florida Republican of engaging in witness tampering. About
seven hours later, he issued a mea culpa in a tweet addressed to House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).
“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,” he
wrote just before midnight. “I’m deleting the tweet & should have chosen
words that better showed my intent. I’m sorry.”
Matt Gaetz
✔
@mattgaetz
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.
Nancy Pelosi
✔
@SpeakerPelosi
I encourage all Members to be mindful that comments made on social media or
in the press can adversely affect the ability of House Committees to obtain
the truthful and complete information necessary to fulfill their duties.
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The apology may not appease Democrats who are demanding action against Gaetz
. U.S. Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-N.Y.) sent an official request to the chairman
and ranking member of the House Ethics Committee on Tuesday asking them to
open an investigation into Gaetz. Rice suggested that his tweet may violate
a federal statute against witness tampering and intimidation.
“After the House Committee on Ethics thoroughly investigates this matter, I
urge you to make any and all appropriate referrals to DOJ,” Rice writes in
the letter.
Gaetz, a staunch Trump ally who frequents the Fox News circuit to defend the
president, has a history of making inflammatory remarks and pushing
conspiracy theories, such claims that Democrats in Florida tried to steal
the November midterms with illegal ballots. In 2018 he invited a right-wing
Internet troll as his guest to the State of the Union address and appeared
on a radio show hosted by Alex Jones of Infowars.
On Tuesday, he tweeted, “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.”
When reached by phone by The Washington Post after sending the tweet, Gaetz
made no apologies, maintaining his message wasn’t meant to intimidate Cohen
, but rather to question his truthfulness.
“Challenging the credibility and veracity of a witness is something that
happens every day in America,” he said, “and we need more of that in
Congress when people intend to come and lie to us.”
Gaetz questions Cohen’s credibility
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) questioned Michael Cohen’s credibility on Feb. 26,
the day before Cohen is scheduled to publicly testify before a House
committee. (U.S. House)
Democrats have charged that Trump, his subordinates and Republicans have
been trying to silence Cohen as he has turned on his former boss. On Tuesday
, Gaetz took to the House floor to question if Cohen even “lies to his own
family,” saying his “web of lies are not to be believed.”
But Gaetz’s tweet drew swift rebuke from Democrats and legal observers, who
argued he crossed a line.
“This isn’t a scene from Godfather II,” Rep. David N. Cicilline (D-R.I.)
tweeted at Gaetz. “Witness intimidation is not going to work.”
“Hey @mattgaetz: Do you know about 18 U.S.C. 1512(b), which prohibits
tampering with witnesses to official proceedings?” Stephen I. Vladeck, a
professor at the University of Texas School of Law, wrote on Twitter,
mimicking Gaetz’s tweet to Cohen.
“Hey @mattgaetz,” began Ryan Goodman, former special counsel to the
Defense Department and now a New York University law professor. “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.”
Pelosi did not directly condemn Gaetz’s tweet. But in a statement issued on
Twitter to all House members around 6 p.m., she said: “I encourage all
Members to be mindful that comments made on social media or in the press can
adversely affect the ability of House Committees to obtain the truthful and
complete information necessary to fulfill their duties.”
She urged that the House Ethics Committee “should vigilantly monitor these
types of statements,” which she said may not be constitutionally protected
speech.
Gaetz apologized and deleted his tweet about six hours later.
Cohen is scheduled to testify Wednesday morning before the House Oversight
Committee and is expected to say that Trump is “a racist,” “a conman”
and “a cheat” who had advance knowledge of the WikiLeaks plot to publish
stolen emails from the Democratic National Committee.
Republicans are expected to question Cohen’s credibility. Cohen was
sentenced to three years in prison in December after being convicted of
financial crimes and lying to Congress, in what U.S. District Judge William
H. Pauley III described as a “veritable smorgasbord of criminal conduct.”
Cohen will testify Wednesday that he lied to Congress in previous testimony
about Trump’s business dealings in Moscow, according to a transcript of his
prepared remarks. He also says Trump did not directly instruct him to lie,
but suggested he should implicitly.
In a statement Tuesday, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said, “It
’s laughable that anyone would take a convicted liar like Cohen at his word
.” | Y***i
发帖数: 1932 | | s******r
发帖数: 5309 | 3 关键是witness tampering and intimidation 罪名把这个傻逼吓到了。 就这点胆量也
敢装黑社会，笑死。
【在 Y***i 的大作中提到】
: Gaetz is an idiot.
| Y***i
发帖数: 1932 | 4 The Florida Bar has opened an investigation into whether Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-
FL) violated professional conduct rules by threatening former Trump fixer
Michael Cohen ahead of Cohen’s congressional testimony on Wednesday.
and
BREAKING: @TheDemCoalition will be filing a House ethics complaint against
GOP Congressman Matt Gaetz today, for his tweet yesterday threatening
Michael Cohen. We believe that his actions warrant removal from Congress. It
was unforgivable. The DoJ will be copied on our filing.
丫基本完了。 |
|
