Plan B Forum

A high-profile Trump ally in Congress just straight-up threatened Michael Cohen

(CNN)

Less than 24 hours before former Trump fixer Michael Cohen is scheduled to appear in an open hearing to discuss his relationship with the President of the United States and shed light on his involvement in a hush money scheme involving two women alleging they had affairs with the billionaire businessman, Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz directly threatened Cohen via Twitter.

"Hey @MichaelCohen212," Gaetz tweeted on Tuesday afternoon. "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..."

Gaetz offered zero proof for his claims of infidelity by Cohen. Speaking to reporters outside his office Tuesday evening, Gaetz defended his tweet, adding that it wasn't a threat. He told reporters his tweet wasn't witness-tampering, but instead was "witness-testing."

Gaetz said he's trying to get into Wednesday's hearing to ask questions (he's not on the House Oversight Committee), and he added that he didn't speak with Trump about his allegations.

In an interview with CBS News after the tweet, Gaetz was pressed for evidence of the claim he hinted at on his Twitter feed and he replied: "As the President loves to say, 'We'll see.' "

It's revealing that Gaetz chose to quote Trump in mounting his defense of an indefensible tweet. Few -- if any -- Republican members of Congress have more fully embraced Trump's go-for-the-jugular approach to politics than Gaetz. An April 2018 profile of Gaetz in GQ described him as the "Trumpiest Congressman in Trump's Washington."

BoSoxGal wrote:I’ve seen Matt Gaetz on the political shows a few times and always thought he was a Tucker Carlson clone wannabe/jerk. This doesn’t surprise me and I’d lay a bet that nobody from his party will condemn him for it.