Did Matt Gaetz Get His Cohen Marching Orders From Boss Trump?

You’ve now seen how Rep. Matt Gaetz, the far-right legacy Congressman from Florida, went on Twitter this afternoon and appeared to threaten Michael Cohen with revealing a purported affair or affairs in advance of Cohen’s public congressional testimony tomorrow. So is this just Gaetz, who loves the spotlight and loves being Trump’s best friend, trying to curry favor or bust Cohen’s chops. Or is it more direct? Did President Trump or perhaps a member of his family get Gaetz to go after Cohen in advance of his big testimony?

We can’t know with any certainty, at least not based on the current evidence. (Who knows with later investigations?) But let me point you in the direction of a few clues.

First, President Trump gabs with a number of members of Congress. But he talks to Matt Gaetz a lot. They talk about Bob Mueller and the Russia probe and whoever seems to be Trump’s enemy of the moment. Trump is 72 and Gaetz is 35. He’s like the son Trump never had, except for his three other sons.

So for instance, here’s one passage from a Politico article from last April …