Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz is responding to news the Department of Justice is investigating him for engaging in a sexual relationship with an underaged girl.
...and my father has even been wearing a wire at the FBI’s direction to catch these criminals. The planted leak to the FBI tonight was intended to thwart that investigation.
— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) March 30, 2021
No part of the allegations against me are true, and the people pushing these lies are targets...
...of the ongoing extortion investigation.
— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) March 30, 2021
I demand the DOJ immediately release the tapes, made at their direction, which implicate their former colleague in crimes against me based on false allegations.
Gaetz also made an appearance on Fox News with Tucker Carlson and said he is being extorted for money by a former Department of Justice official. Carlson said it was one of the "weirdest interviews" he's ever conducted.
This is WILD.@MattGaetz to #Tucker: "It is a horrible allegation and it is a lie. The New York Times is running a story that I have traveled w/a 17-year-old woman and that is verifiably false...What is happening is an extortion of me and my family" by a former DOJ official. pic.twitter.com/lwqfVGC9wF
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) March 31, 2021
Credit to #Tucker here for pressing Matt Gaetz on for "what is the basis" of the DOJ investigation (Gaetz says he doesn't know anything besides what's in The Times), if he did know or date a 17-yr-old (he says they don't exist), and how long the probe has gone on (he didn't know) pic.twitter.com/hQjcs6o155
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) March 31, 2021
WATCH: Rep. Matt Gaetz responds on Tucker Carlson Tonight to allegations of sexual misconduct:
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) March 31, 2021
He says a former DOJ official named David McGee is trying to extort is family for money
He says that the FBI and DOJ have audio recordings that will prove his innocence. pic.twitter.com/J95AEFtxsr
The news was first reported by the New York Times.
Representative Matt Gaetz, Republican of Florida and a close ally of former President Donald J. Trump, is being investigated by the Justice Department over whether he had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old and paid for her to travel with him, according to three people briefed on the matter.
Investigators are examining whether Mr. Gaetz violated federal sex trafficking laws, the people said. A variety of federal statutes make it illegal to induce someone under 18 to travel over state lines to engage in sex in exchange for money or something of value. The Justice Department regularly prosecutes such cases, and offenders often receive severe sentences.