Addressing Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) directly, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) on Tuesday apologized for his tweet that appeared to threaten Michael Cohen ahead of his congressional testimony Wednesday. The congressman also deleted the tweet Tuesday evening.
“I’m deleting the tweet and should have chosen words that better showed my intent,” he said. “I’m sorry.”
On Tuesday afternoon, Gaetz — an ardent supporter of President Trump — tweeted an allegation that Cohen had “girlfriends” and questioned whether his wife would remain faithful while Cohen is in prison. Gaetz later doubled down on those remarks from the House floor.
Pelosi addressed Gaetz’s comments in a statement on Twitter later Tuesday evening, warning that House members should be “mindful” of comments made on social media and alluding that the House Ethic Committee could get involved if “members” weren’t careful.
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
