Rep Matt Gaetz threatens Michael Cohen on Twitter in advance of his testimony

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), a prominent supporter of President Trump, appeared to threaten former Trump attorney Michael Cohen on Twitter late Tuesday afternoon — one day before Cohen testifies before the House Oversight Committee about Trump’s business deals and hush money payments to women who alleged affairs with Trump during the 2016 campaign.

Gaetz, who has represented Florida’s First Congressional District since 2017, tweeted, “Hey Michael Cohen – Do your wife & father-in-law know about your girlfriends? Maybe tonight would be a good time for that chat. I wonder if she’ll remain faithful when you’re in prison. She’s about to learn a lot…”

Gaetz has a long history of controversial statements and actions, including inviting internet troll and occasional Holocaust denier Chuck Johnson to the State of the Union and becoming a leading voice in the brief movement to release a memo written by Republican Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) that many on the right believed would damage Robert Mueller’s investigation into the 2016 Trump campaign. Gaetz even appeared on conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’s show to discuss the memo.

In text messages with my colleague Alex Ward, Gaetz reiterated the sentiments from his tweet, promising “fireworks” at Wednesday’s hearing. (Gaetz is not a member of the House Oversight Committee, so he won’t be among the members questioning Cohen.)According to Ken White, an attorney at Brown White & Osborn LLP in Los Angeles, a former federal prosecutor and a frequent commenter on the Mueller investigation (he goes by Popehat on Twitter), Gaetz’s tweet was “colorably witness intimidation” — which is illegal.White directed me to 18 US Code § 1512, “Tampering with a witness, victim, or an informant,” which includes efforts to “influence, delay, or prevent the testimony of any person in an official proceeding” as forms of witness tampering. And on Twitter, White shared 18 USC § 1505, which argues: