Nicolle Wallace panel wonders if Trump was involved in ‘witness tampering’ tweet from GOP Congressman Matt Gaetz
The panel on MSNBC's "Deadline: White House" with Nicolle Wallace on Tuesday wondering if President Donald Trump had a role in the controversial tweet from Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL).
There have been calls for Gaetz to resign or be ejected from Congress -- and many legal experts believe the tweet constituted a federal crime.
"I want to bring up something that happened since we have been on the air. I asked you whether Michael Cohen was afraid for himself or his family about the three days of testimony -- it seems he has reason to be," Wallace noted.
She then read the tweet.
"I'm not sure if that is criminal, but it's certainly deplorable," Wallace noted.
She happened to have Donny Deutsch, a close Cohen confidante, on as a guest on her panel.
"I hate to dignify this, but this is a congressman," Deutsch charged. "You are scum."
"To call into question this man's fidelity -- I have never seen a better marriage in my life -- but worse, to suggest his wife may not be faithful?" he continued.
"Who the hell do you think you are?" he asked. "Who the hell do you think you are? You are a congressman, do your job."
Aaron Blake, a senior political reporter at The Washington Post, wondered if President Donald Trump may have been involved in Gaetz's tweet.
"I think raises a real question about was this just the congressman freelancing or was this something that maybe somebody whispered in his ear and said he needed to put out there," Blake said.
"Certainly we have seen the president, of course, tweet out things that at least operate within a grey area of obstruction of justice when it comes to Michael Cohen's family before," he explained. "Certainly the fact that it comes out the day before Michael Cohen is delivering testimony in public on Wednesday is hard to dismiss as a coincidence."
"This is really pretty evident what he is trying to do and that is to rattle Michael Cohen," he added.
Wallace noted this was not the first time Gaetz has carried water for Trump.
"He has played Trump's stooge before in earlier episodes," she noted. "This seems like textbook attempt to tamper with a witness."
"This seems to be something that is going blow back on him," Blake suggested. "At the same time, I would imagine Gaetz knew what he was getting into when he tweeted this."
"This is in character for him, this is the game we have been talking about that he has been playing for a very long while. If there was one member of Congress who you would expect to have sent that tweet out, he is the one I guess would have done this," he concluded.
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