READ: Sean Hannity Sent Reassuring Texts to Matt Gaetz After He Threatened Michael Cohen on Twitter
The House Ethics Committee investigation, which ultimately declined to take action against Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) for a message he wrote to Michael Cohen, also revealed that the representative texted Fox News host Sean Hannity for advice and reassurance following the incident.
“F*ckers are coming for my law license. You were right. We all spend our time in the barrel.” Gaetz wrote to Hannity following the backlash from his tweet to Cohen.
“Hey @MichaelCohen212 – 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 wrote in the since-deleted message.
Some took Gaetz’s promise to release information on Cohen’s alleged infidelity as a threat, as the tweet was posted on the night before Cohen’s testimony before Congress in February 2019.
The House Ethics Committee said it received a complaint asking to investigate Gaetz for seeking “to threaten, intimidate, harass, or otherwise improperly influence” Cohen.
On Friday, the committee released a report revealing that they will not take action against Gaetz for the message he wrote on Twitter, because they are “not the social media police.”
The investigation also revealed that Gaetz texted Hannity in February 2019, following backlash on his Cohen tweet, to ask the host for advice.
Politico took to Twitter to share the texts:
Hannity told Gaetz to “Run this sh*t by me!!!” in a message, referring to Gaetz’s tweet, but promised the congressman that he would not lose his license over the incident.
Hannity suggested that Gaetz lay low after the representative pandered to the host and called him “the most powerful man in media.”
“Smart to pull it down and say what u said. It will pass. Attention span of people is zero. Just learn from it,” Hannity said before suggesting that Gaetz send Cohen a private apology over a text message.
