Rep. Matthew Gaetz (R-FL) sent a controversial tweet aimed at Michael Cohen on Tuesday, a day ahead of his appearance before Congress. The former Donald Trump attorney is testifying before the House Oversight and Reform Committee about his dealings with his famous client. So far, Cohen has done his best to explain how "ashamed" he is knowing he continued to work for Trump after witnessing his unethical behavior. According to the attorney, over the course of 10 years, Trump violated campaign finance laws and implicitly told him to lie to Congress about a Trump Tower project in Moscow. Cohen is going to jail for the latter offense.
Republicans like Gaetz are skeptical about Cohen's claims, and that could perhaps explain this now-deleted message:
"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..."
The tweet outraged lawmakers, who saw it as a threat toward the witness. Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-NJ) defined it as "grossly unethical and probably illegal." After some reflection, Gaetz issued an apology.
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. https://t.co/Rdbw3sTQJD
— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) February 27, 2019
Yet, Gaetz puzzled the media by showing up at Wednesday's hearing.
Matt Gaetz, not a member of the committee, is in the Cohen hearing room
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) February 27, 2019
Stay updated on the Cohen interrogation by following our live blog.