On Tuesday, following an explosive report that the Justice Department is investigating Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) as part of a sex trafficking probe into his alleged relationship with a 17-year-old girl, Gaetz fired back with a lengthy response on Twitter.
He claimed that, "Over the past several weeks my family and I have been victims of an organized criminal extortion involving a former DOJ official seeking $25 million while threatening to smear my name," and that "my father has even been wearing a wire at the FBI's direction to catch these criminals."
Gaetz's response drew immediate incredulity from lawyers on social media, many of whom pointed out that these comments would be wildly ill-advised of a person in his legal position.
Wowza. This is something . . . if true https://t.co/CQsDpTvKrY— Jennifer Taub (@Jennifer Taub)1617145149.0
In one tweet thread Rep. Gaetz has managed to make every defense counsel and every prosecutor in the land simultane… https://t.co/O5YCOp0yV0— Gabriel Malor (@Gabriel Malor)1617145623.0
Question for @mattgaetz: Have you ever provided for underage women that you have "dated"? https://t.co/q5gNeAcDiP— Renato Mariotti (@Renato Mariotti)1617143871.0
Liar https://t.co/p1teYPGNIG— Daniel Uhlfelder (@Daniel Uhlfelder)1617145624.0
Here's a flow chart. https://t.co/OIdWpRktep https://t.co/rPbyRLBldL— Mike Chase (@Mike Chase)1617145511.0
Um, well, the New York Times reports that she was 17 years old. https://t.co/ZZMIVe6Cwy— Teri Kanefield (@Teri Kanefield)1617145070.0
As a general proposition, many criminals are not that bright and often can't keep their mouths shut. https://t.co/U57u3TkXKA— Richard Signorelli (@Richard Signorelli)1617144915.0
I don’t even understand what is going on here https://t.co/lqsa6UgZ7G— Preet Bharara (@Preet Bharara)1617149076.0
Pretty sure the @FBI and @TheJusticeDept would not have wanted Rep Matt Gaetz to disclose that his father was weari… https://t.co/5vehytGukE— Ted Lieu (@Ted Lieu)1617146441.0
