Who gave Rep. Matt Gaetz the information he is now using to threaten a federal witness?

[applegrove]

Who gave Rep. Matt Gaetz the information he is now using to threaten a federal witness?

Feb 26, 2019 7:10pm EST by Hunter, Daily Kos Staff

https://m.dailykos.com/stories/1837978

"SNIP.....

Which brings us to an intriguing little question about Rep. Gaetz's would-be witness bombshell: Just how is it that Matt Gaetz, Florida congressman, allegedly knows secret details of Donald Trump's ex-lawyer's home life?

Who told him? And, specifically, to what purpose? Gaetz is not on the committee that will be hearing Cohen's testimony; he is, in this context, solely a bystander. If Gaetz's intent is to expose private information learned about Cohen in order to influence his upcoming testimony, he is doing it only as thuggery. (That said, the notion that any human being in Trump's orbit could be shamed by the exposure of infidelity seems a bit much. Trump himself is accused of serial sexual harassment and assault, the very reason Cohen is set to testify to Congress is over hush money paid in an arrangement to hide multiple affairs, and the top tiers of the Republican National Committee are peppered with enough disgraced ex-executives to fill the tabloids many times over.)

Who told Matt Gaetz about Cohen's private life? Who might Cohen have confided in, if Gaetz's information is accurate? Who gave Gaetz the information he is now using in his intimidation attempt—and did that person give it to him with the understanding that he would expose it?

There are only two solid possibilities. The first is Donald J. Trump, the man formerly closest to Cohen and who has himself been aggressive in attempting to drag Cohen's "father-in-law" into the legal fray. The second is the stupidest and most talkative of Trump's legal strategists; as shorthand, we will call this group "Rudy Giuliani."

.....SNIP"

[RockRaven]

1. When he tried to justify it by calling it "witness testing" he used the pronoun WE.

and I suspect he was speaking in the usual first person plural, not the royal usage. So any investigation of his comment for potential criminality or other wrongdoing needs to get to the bottom of who else might have been involved.

[uponit7771]

10. +1

[gratuitous]

2. Did anyone ask Cohen about any "girlfriends"?

Because if they didn't, then Gaetz's threat is even more reprehensible.

[4139]

3. Vodka gave him the info, lots of vodka

[MagickMuffin]

4. My bet is on Roger Stone

but they are all capable of turning on each other. This just keeps getting better and better.

[procon]

5. Go with Trump, he's already done the same

thing, bringing up the FIL as a threat. Besides, that's Trump's style of retaliation, and in his vendetta against Cohen he will stop at nothing to have his revenge.

[Sneederbunk]

7. Correct. Trump is also fixated with the father-in-law.

[GulfCoast66]

6. The guys a drunk. Posted it last night after he got ripped.

Woke up, read what he wrote and the phone calls coming in and was all ‘oh shit!’

Pulled the post and apologized. Like drunks do.

But the investigations, including the Florida Bar have already started.

[whistler162]

8. Likely a guy named Grimm or his buddy Aesop

[mainer]

9. Giuliani?

NY gossips?

[womanofthehills]

11. I think it's either Trump or Roger Stone

Roger is probably going crazy. He can't help himself - he's out there today talking. He is probably calling people and telling them what to say.

[UTUSN]

12. K&R