Ethics panel launches Gaetz investigation over Cohen tweet
The House Ethics Committee announced Friday that it is investigating Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) for a February tweet in which he threatened to release embarrassing personal information about President Donald Trump's former lawyer, Michael Cohen.
The panel revealed in a statement that it has opened a formal inquiry into Gaetz's comment based on a March 13 complaint from a fellow lawmaker, who is not identified. According to the panel, Gaetz blew off an initial review of the complaint on May 16, an extraordinary rebuke to his colleagues.
That refusal to cooperate led the committee to launch a more formal inquiry, led by a subcommittee of two Democrats and two Republicans.
Gaetz, in a text, said he intends to blow off that panel too.
"If members of Congress want to spend their time psychoanalyzing my tweets, it’s certainly their prerogative," he wrote. "I won’t be joining them in the endeavor. Too busy.“
The Ethics Committee can sanction Gaetz whether or not he cooperates with the investigation. More serious punishments would have to be voted on by the full House.
Gaetz took bipartisan fire on Feb. 26, the eve of Cohen's appearance, by vowing to release information about allegations of Cohen's infidelity.
“Do your wife & father-in-law know about your girlfriends? Maybe tonight would be a good time for that chat,” Gaetz wrote. “I wonder if she’ll remain faithful to you in prison. She’s about to learn a lot.”
The tweet caused an outcry on Capitol Hill and Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in a statement that evening that didn't mention Gaetz, encouraged the Ethics Committee to "vigilantly monitor these types of statements." Pelosi noted that the comments "may not be protected by the speech or debate clause," which gives lawmakers wide latitude to comment on most matters in the course of their legislative work.
Responding to Pelosi at the time, Gaetz apologized.
"It was NOT my intent to threaten, as some believe I did," Gaetz tweeted. "I’m deleting the tweet & I should have chosen words that better showed my intent. I’m sorry."
A source familiar with the ethics complaint confirmed that it originated with Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-N.Y.). The source said Rice, a former prosecutor, confronted Gaetz on the House floor the night of his tweet and submitted a formal ethics complaint two weeks later.
Gaetz's initial attack on Cohen came a day before the former Trump confidant was slated to testify to the House Oversight Committee, a high-profile hearing in which Cohen ultimately slammed the president as dishonest and provided evidence that he paid hush money to women ahead of the 2016 election.
The Ethics Committee, a 10-member panel equally divided among Republicans and Democrats, rarely receives complaints from lawmakers about their own colleagues. There's no time limit for the subcommittee to take action on the complaint or to conclude its investigation — or even to make public if they ultimately close their probe. However, if they decide to sanction Gaetz — either with a reprimand, censure or another punishment — they would typically make that result public.
The subcommittee is being chaired by Rep. Anthony Brown (D-Md.) and includes Reps. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), Michael Guest (R-Miss.) and John Rose (R-Tenn.)
