Nicholas Fandos

<h1>WASHINGTON — The Florida Bar said on Wednesday it had opened an investigation to determine whether Rep. Matt Gaetz, a Republican from the state, violated its conduct rules when he threatened to reveal what he said were extramarital affairs by a pending congressional witness, Michael Cohen.</h1>

Gaetz’s threat came on Twitter on Tuesday afternoon, as Cohen, President Donald Trump’s former lawyer and longtime fixer, was preparing for explosive public remarks before the House Oversight and Reform Committee in which he ultimately implicated his former boss in federal crimes and other unsavory acts. Gaetz, 36, is one of Trump’s most outspoken allies on Capitol Hill, and his public statements have frequently solicited criticism from Democrats.

“Hey @MichaelCohen212 — Do your wife &amp; 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 his tweet, which he deleted and apologized for.

Democrats said Gaetz’s remarks might amount to witness intimidation, and several lawmakers called for his comments to be investigated by the House Ethics Committee. Francine Andía Walker, a spokeswoman for the Florida Bar, said Wednesday that the organization had opened its investigation after learning of the comments but could not offer further details. The Florida Bar licenses lawyers to practice in the state.

“Any time the words or actions of a Florida lawyer result in complaints, the Florida Bar will fully investigate those complaints through its established grievance process to determine if bar rules have been violated,” she said. “It handles thousands of complaints each year, filing charges and pursuing discipline against lawyers whose professional conduct is not in keeping with the rules.”

Gaetz said Tuesday that he was merely raising questions about the “veracity and character” of a congressional witness — not trying to intimidate him.

On Wednesday, he said in a text message he had not been contacted by the Florida Bar but signaled that he was not concerned.

“It seems that the Florida Bar, by its rules, is required to investigate even the most frivolous complaints,” he said.

As a member of Congress, Gaetz is protected under the Constitution’s “speech or debate” clause, which gives lawmakers wide latitude to speak while Congress is in session. It has been cited frequently in the past as a protection against punishment.

Under federal law, it is a crime to threaten or intimidate an individual to influence, delay or otherwise prevent that person from testifying in official proceedings, including a congressional hearing. But it is not clear whether a remark like Gaetz’s — made ambiguously on social media — would qualify. Nor is it clear whether the congressional speech and debate protections would give him legal cover.

Gaetz deleted his tweet late Tuesday after Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California warned him that comments like his could harm the Oversight Committee’s ability to “obtain the truthful and complete information necessary.”

“I should have chosen words that better showed my intent,” he wrote, replying to Pelosi. “I’m sorry.”

This article originally appeared in <a id="bae2a997-93b8-43f2-ba5f-82654a28682f" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/27/us/politics/florida-bar-matt-gaetz.html">The New York Times</a>.

Florida Bar Will Investigate Republican Congressman's Threat Against Cohen

Gaetz’s threat came on Twitter on Tuesday afternoon, as Cohen, President Donald Trump’s former lawyer and longtime fixer, was preparing for explosive public remarks before the House Oversight and Reform Committee.

Florida bar will investigate Republican congressman's threat against Cohen

<h1>WASHINGTON — Michael Cohen has agreed to testify in public next Wednesday before Congress about his work as President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer and longtime fixer, but lawmakers said they would limit the scope of their questioning in deference to the special counsel.</h1>

The hearing next week before the House Oversight and Reform Committee will give Cohen, once one of Trump’s most loyal aides, a rare public platform to try to explain his work for the president, including an illegal scheme during the 2016 campaign to pay hush money to two women claiming to have had affairs with Trump. And it promises to provide House Democrats investigating Trump, his business and his administration with early fireworks to punctuate their efforts.

But Cohen — who has pleaded guilty to lying to Congress, tax fraud and a campaign finance violation in the hush money scheme — will also face intense scrutiny from Republicans, who have already indicated that they plan to aggressively challenge his past work and credibility as a witness against the president.

The committee’s chairman indicated that after consultation with the Justice Department and the House Intelligence Committee, Cohen would not be allowed to discuss matters related to Russia, including a proposed Trump Tower project in Moscow under scrutiny by special counsel Robert Mueller.

“Congress has an obligation under the Constitution to conduct independent and robust oversight of the executive branch, and this hearing is one step in that process,” the chairman, Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., said in a statement announcing the rescheduled hearing.

In a two-page memo released late Wednesday, Cummings outlined 10 topics he said would be addressed, including “the president’s debts and payments relating to efforts to influence the 2016 election” and his compliance with federal tax and campaign finance laws. Other topics were more open-ended, including Trump’s business practices and possible conflicts of interest, as well as the “accuracy of the president’s public statements.”

Lanny Davis, one of Cohen’s lawyers, told ABC News that his client intended to share “personal, front-line experiences of memories, and incidents, and conduct, and comments that Donald Trump said over that 10-year time period behind closed doors.”

Cohen had intimate access to Trump as a businessman and during the 2016 presidential campaign. But since he came under the scrutiny of federal investigators, Cohen has implicated Trump in court in the hush money scheme and spent more than 70 hours with federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York and those working for Mueller.

On Twitter on Wednesday, Cohen said he was “Looking forward to the #American people hearing my story in my voice!” He included a link to a GoFundMe page raising money for the “Michael Cohen Truth Fund.”

The public hearing is one of three sessions Cohen will have next week on Capitol Hill. He is also scheduled to participate in private deposition-style interviews with the House and Senate Intelligence Committees, where he is likely to be pressed on matters pertaining to Russia and other potential efforts by foreign powers to gain influence over Trump. Cohen pleaded guilty in November to lying to the two intelligence committees about the Trump Organization proposal to build a skyscraper in Moscow.

Before that, in August, Cohen had pleaded guilty in federal court in Manhattan to tax fraud, making false statements to a bank and the campaign finance violation. He said in court at the time that the last violation was the result of payments he made at Trump’s behest during the 2016 campaign to two women to keep them from speaking publicly about affairs they said they had with Trump.

Cohen had been expected to report early next month to begin serving a three-year prison sentence, but on Wednesday, a federal judge in Manhattan said that he could delay that appearance by two months, to May 6. In requesting the delay, Cohen’s lawyers said he had undergone recent shoulder surgery and needed to take part in physical therapy.

If Democrats are hoping that Cohen’s testimony will damage Trump’s public image, Republicans have been laying the groundwork to try to undercut Cohen’s credibility first. In a letter to Cummings on Tuesday, the oversight committee’s top Republicans referred to Cohen as “an admitted serial liar” and accused the Democrats of putting on a political show.

“When Cohen appears before our committee, we can only assume that he will continue his pattern of deceit and perjury,” the Republicans, Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio and Mark Meadows of North Carolina, wrote. “Although Cohen falsely attributes his crimes to ‘blind loyalty to Donald Trump,’ a federal judge correctly noted that Cohen’s crimes were all motivated by his personal greed and ambition.”

Trump himself has repeatedly suggested that Cohen lied to prosecutors about him to reduce his own prison sentence. Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s lawyer, abruptly shifted his own assessment of Cohen’s honesty after Cohen pleaded guilty and began talking to prosecutors.

It was another comment by Trump — who during a Fox News interview in January cryptically called for Cohen’s father-in-law to be investigated — that prompted Cohen to initially postpone the oversight hearing, which was originally scheduled for Feb. 7.

Democrats seized on the threats, asserting that Cohen had been “intimidated” from testifying to Congress by the president — an action that could be construed as a crime. Trump denied that he had done anything of the sort.

This article originally appeared in <a id="f2a695aa-d126-42b2-9501-2748678f71e3" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/20/us/politics/michael-cohen-testimony.html">The New York Times</a>.

Michael Cohen Agrees to Testify Next Week, Setting Stage for a High-Stakes Hearing

The hearing next week before the House Oversight and Reform Committee will give Cohen, once one of Trump’s most loyal aides, a rare public platform to try to explain his work for the president.

Michael Cohen agrees to testify next week, setting stage for a high-stakes hearing

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Nicholas Fandos

Articles written by the author

Florida bar will investigate Republican congressman's threat against Cohen

Michael Cohen agrees to testify next week, setting stage for a high-stakes hearing