Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) tweeted a threat to President Trump's former personal attorney Michael Cohen on the eve of his public testimony before the House Oversight Committee.
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
Why it matters: Cohen originally postponed his appearance before various congressional committees in part because of "threats against his family" from Trump and his attorney Rudy Giuliani. Gaetz, a Trump loyalist, recently told the New York Times that he's proud that scrutiny of investigations by congressional Republicans — including branding the Mueller probe as a "witch hunt" — has "aided in the president's defense."
- In a text exchange with Vox's Alex Ward, Gaetz said he disagrees with those who claim he is witness tampering: "I’m witness testing. We still are allowed to test the veracity and character of witnesses, I think."
- He again denied witness tampering to The Daily Beast: "This is what it looks like to compete in the marketplace of ideas."
