WASHINGTON – The Florida Bar opened an investigation into Rep. Matt Gaetz after the Republican posted what was viewed as a threat to President Donald Trump's former attorney Michael Cohen, just before providing public testimony to Congress. Gaetz, a fierce defender of Trump from Florida, posted an apology on Twitter hours after his viral tweet alleged Cohen had cheated on his wife. The tweet sparked calls for an ethics investigation and concerns that he was attempting to intimidate a witness. The Florida Bar said in a statement that an investigation was opened after at least one complaint was made about Gaetz, who is a member of the organization. "The Florida Bar is aware of the comments made in a tweet yesterday by Rep. Matt Gaetz, who is a Florida Bar member, and I can confirm we have opened an investigation," said Francine Andía Walker, a spokeswoman for the Florida Bar. She added, "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." Gaetz, in a text message to USA TODAY, said he did not believe the investigation would lead anywhere, saying "it seems that the Florida Bar, by its ruls, is required to investigate even the most frivilous of complaints." Earlier, he had apologized for tweeting that Cohen's wife was "about to learn a lot" and alleged he'd been unfaithful in his marriage. " Hey @MichaelCohen212 - Do your wife & father-in-law know about your girlfriends?" Gaetz wrote in the since-deleted tweet. "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 did not elaborate on his allegations that Cohen had an affair, which hasn't been previously reported, or where he obtained this information, only saying that reporters should tune in during Wednesday's hearing. He said he deleted the tweet and denied he was aiming to threaten Cohen. "While it is important 2 create context around the testimony of liars like Michael Cohen, it was NOT my intent to threaten, as some believe I did," Gaetz wrote early Wednesday on Twitter. "I’m deleting the tweet & I should have chosen words that better showed my intent. I’m sorry." Cohen testimony::'I am here to tell the truth.' Michael Cohen delivers searing testimony about Trump Read:Michael Cohen's opening statement to Congress From threatening schools to racist remar:The alleged Trump deeds Cohen plans to share The apology followed criticism that Gaetz's tweet could be seen as intimidating a witness. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi warned that members' comments "on social media or in the press can adversely affect the ability of the House Committees to obtain the truthful and complete information necessary to fulfill their duties." Cohen is appearing Wednesday before the House Oversight and Reform Committee, a bombshell hearing where Cohen described his former boss as "a conman" and "racist." While Gaetz is not a member of the Oversight committee, he was in the room at the start of the hearing. He stood stone-faced along the wall on the Republican side of the room as Cohen described his 24-year marriage, his wife and two children. Gaetz told reporters as he entered the room that he sought to ask questions, a practice sometimes allowed for non-members if the committee consents. More:Republican congressman Matt Gaetz tweets apparent threat to Michael Cohen, alleging affair More:Former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen to testify before Congress about his old boss: 'He is a conman.' More:From Trump fixer to Mueller informant: Timeline of Michael Cohen's role in Russia probe Cohen, in his opening statement to Congress, asserted that Trump knew in advance that WikiLeaks planned to release stolen emails damaging to political rival Hillary Clinton; that he personally reimbursed Cohen for an illegal hush-money payment to a porn star; and that the president indirectly encouraged him to lie to Congress about his pursuit of a potentially lucrative Trump Tower development in Moscow, even as Trump repeatedly denied any business interests in Russia throughout the 2016 campaign. Cohen pleaded guilty and agreed to provide evidence to prosecutors in two separate criminal investigations involving Trump and those around him. He admitted to illegally paying hush money to two women who claimed to have had sex with Trump and lying to Congress about the extent of negotiations for a Trump real estate project in Russia. Lanny Davis, an attorney for Cohen, said the post "set a new low" for the congressman, adding they would not respond to his lies and "personal smears." "We will not respond to Mr. Gaetz's despicable lies and personal smears, except to say we trust that his colleagues in the House, both Republicans and Democrats, will repudiate his words and his conduct," Davis said in a statement. Contributing: Bart Jansen and Eliza Collins More:Read Michael Cohen's opening statement to Congress More:Cohen takeaways: As Trump's former lawyer heads to prison, political and legal implications grow for White House<doc-sep>On Tuesday, Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz sent the following tweet to Donald Trump’s former fixer Michael 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... — Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) February 26, 2019 Advertisement Gaetz’s threat comes on the eve of Cohen’s public testimony about the president’s involvement in schemes to buy the silence of adult actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal in order to prevent the public from discovering that a man famous for being unfaithful to his various wives was still sleeping around. There’s a complicated moral calculus surrounding these payoffs: It’s obviously good any time Donald Trump has less money, but it might also have been good for the public to have evidence that Trump is an immoral jerk who shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near government power. On the other hand, the public already had mountains of evidence that Trump was an immoral jerk who shouldn’t have been allowed anywhere near government power on Nov. 8, 2016, and elected him anyway, so it’s possible the payoffs were nothing more than a waste of Trump’s money, which, again, would be something to applaud. On the other hand, Gaetz’s tweet threatening Cohen the night before he testifies seems to be a little easier to parse. For more on this, let’s check in with what looks like every single law professor in America. Here’s Ryan Goodman of NYU: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hey @mattgaetz - Does your personal attorney know you’ve just engaged, very clearly, in the crime of witness tampering? Maybe tonight would be a good time for that chat. https://t.co/d4d1O7nnMw — Ryan Goodman (@rgoodlaw) February 26, 2019 Here’s Steve Vladeck of the University of Texas: Hey @mattgaetz: Do you know about 18 U.S.C. § 1512(b), which prohibits tampering with witnesses to official proceedings? :https://t.co/4ZZ2jQ0Qrs https://t.co/t7XMXITlNb — Steve Vladeck (@steve_vladeck) February 26, 2019 Advertisement Here’s Rick Hasen of UC–Irvine: Not a joke----and I don't think that such comments on Twitter would be protected by legislative immunity even if they could be privileged if uttered on the House floor. https://t.co/NZJvwpDiln — Rick Hasen (@rickhasen) February 26, 2019 Here’s Anthony Michael Kreis of Chicago-Kent: Advertisement Does the Speech and Debate Clause apply to Twitter? Asking for a Florida Congressman. — Anthony Michael Kreis (@AnthonyMKreis) February 26, 2019 Advertisement Here’s Laurence Tribe of Harvard: . @mattgaetz is a disgusting excuse for a human being. He’s also engaged in criminal witness tampering in plain sight. No immunity is available. He deserves to be indicted, and of course needs to be kicked out of Congress.https://t.co/nTg9KzSwMW — Laurence Tribe (@tribelaw) February 26, 2019 Advertisement In fact, there seem to be only two members of the legal establishment willing to defend Gaetz’s actions. The first is one Matthew Louis Gaetz II, a 2007 graduate of the College of William and Mary. Although Gaetz is himself a sitting congressman, he nevertheless seems to feel that there was nothing untoward about Gaetz’s tweet, which he described as “witness testing” rather than witness tampering. Rep. Matt Gaetz defended his tweet directed at Michael Cohen, saying it should not be perceived as a threat https://t.co/aYIcGo5zvO pic.twitter.com/YX5q6fkJnW — CBS News (@CBSNews) February 26, 2019 Advertisement Rep. Gaetz further elaborated his defense of Rep. Gaetz in an interview with the Daily Beast, saying, “This is what it looks like to compete in the marketplace of ideas.” But Gaetz has something of a conflict of interest here, in the sense that he, himself, is Matt Gaetz. Only one prominent lawyer who was not Gaetz was willing to defend Gaetz’s actions, and he hasn’t been a real player since the 1970s. Here’s Tom Hagen of (presumably) USC, leading by example: Advertisement Now that’s ethical lawyering! Unfortunately, one of the mildest responses to Gaetz’s tweet came from Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, who warned that the Committee on Ethics might look into the matter because tweeting threats about exposing a private citizen’s alleged infidelities the night before he testifies about the president’s criminal conduct might “be construed as not reflecting creditably on the House”: Advertisement Advertisement I encourage all Members to be mindful that comments made on social media or in the press can adversely affect the ability of House Committees to obtain the truthful and complete information necessary to fulfill their duties. https://t.co/NDnxkaiFCA pic.twitter.com/DIIgSHgeb5 — Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) February 26, 2019 Advertisement Be mindful, Matt Gaetz! Update, Feb. 27, 2018: After receiving implicit criticism from Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Gaetz deleted his original tweet and sent a new one Tuesday night, apologizing for his earlier remarks:<doc-sep>U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) speaks during a rally hosted by FreedomWorks September 26, 2018 at the West Lawn of the Capitol in Washington, DC. Alex Wong | Getty Images Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., one of President Donald Trump's most vocal and committed supporters in Congress, on Tuesday sent what appeared to be a threatening tweet to Trump's ex-lawyer, Michael Cohen, on the eve of his public testimony before Congress. "Hey @MichaelCohen212 - Do your wife & father-in-law know about your girlfriends?" Gaetz wrote in a since-deleted tweet Tuesday afternoon, while Cohen was still testifying behind closed doors before the Senate Intelligence Committee — the first of three days of congressional hearings. "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. Cohen's legal representative, Lanny Davis, said in a statement, "We will not respond to Mr. Gaetz's despicable lies and personal smears, except to say we trust that his colleagues in the House, both Republicans and Democrats, will repudiate his words and his conduct." Davis added: "I also trust that his constituents will not appreciate that their congressman has set a new low — which in today's political culture is hard to imagine as possible." Following Gaetz's tweet, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Tuesday posted a statement on Twitter to "encourage all Members to be mindful that comments made on social media or in the press can adversely affect the ability of House Committees to obtain the truthful and complete information necessary to fulfill their duties." Pelosi tweet: I encourage all Members to be mindful that comments made on social media or in the press can adversely affect the ability of House Committees to obtain the truthful and complete information necessary to fulfill their duties. Gaetz responded to Pelosi online, tweeting that while he wants to "create context around the testimony of liars like Michael Cohen," it "was NOT my intent to threaten, as some believe I did." "I'm deleting the tweet & I should have chosen words that better showed my intent. I'm sorry," Gaetz wrote. Cohen is scheduled to speak for the first time in public testimony before the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday. The former longtime personal attorney and fixer for Trump, who pleaded guilty last year to campaign finance crimes, criminal tax evasion and lying to Congress, is also a central figure in special counsel Robert Mueller's probe of Russian meddling and possible Trump-campaign collusion during the 2016 presidential election. He is scheduled to begin a three-year prison term in May. A spokeswoman for the Oversight Committee declined CNBC's request for comment on Gaetz's tweet. Neither Gaetz's office nor representatives for Cohen immediately responded to CNBC's requests for a response to Gaetz's tweet. Shortly after the tweet was sent, Gaetz defended his message in remarks to reporters. "I think my tweet speaks for itself," Gaetz said. "This isn't witness tampering. This is witness testing." Gaetz denied that the tweet was a threat. "I don't threaten anybody. Michael Cohen threatens people," he said. "Michael Cohen is a PhD in threats and intimidation."<doc-sep>
WASHINGTON – One of President Donald Trump's fiercest allies in the House of Representatives posted a tweet Tuesday that many called a direct threat to Michael Cohen ahead of his public testimony before Congress on Wednesday. Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz posted on Twitter that Cohen's wife was "about to learn a lot" about him and accused the former Trump attorney and fixer of being unfaithful in his marriage. He later deleted the tweet and apologized to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. "Hey @MichaelCohen212 - Do your wife & father-in-law know about your girlfriends?" Gaetz wrote in the since-deleted tweet. "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..." Cohen spent Tuesday behind closed doors testifying to the Senate Intelligence Committee. He will appear before the House Oversight and Reform Committee on Wednesday in a public appearance that's expected to revolve around the president's alleged infidelities, businesses and finances. When asked by reporters on Capitol Hill about the tweet, Gaetz denied that the post was a threat or attempt to intimidate Cohen. "This isn't witness tampering, it's witness testing," he told reporters outside his office. "When people like Michael Cohen, who's about to go to prison for lying, come before the Congress, there's an enhanced responsibility on the part of members of Congress to test that veracity, to test the truthfulness and character of the witness, and I think we ought to do it with great vigor." Gaetz did not elaborate on his allegations that Cohen had an affair, which hasn't been previously reported, or where he obtained this information, only saying that reporters should tune in during Wednesday's hearing. Later, however, Gaetz deleted his tweet after Pelosi said via Twitter that members' comments "on social media or in the press can adversely affect the ability of the House Committees to obtain the truthful and complete information necessary to fulfill their duties." In response, Gaetz tweeted: "Speaker, I want to get the truth too. While it is important 2 create context around the testimony of liars like Michael Cohen, it was NOT my intent to threaten, as some believe I did. I’m deleting the tweet & I should have chosen words that better showed my intent. I’m sorry." More:Michael Cohen plans to accuse the president of 'criminal conduct' More:Michael Cohen, Trump's former lawyer, disbarred because of his felony convictions Cohen pleaded guilty and agreed to provide evidence to prosecutors in two separate criminal investigations involving Trump and those around him. He admitted to illegally paying hush money to two women who claimed to have had sex with Trump and lying to Congress about the extent of negotiations for a Trump real estate project in Russia. A person familiar with Cohen's planned testimony said he was prepared to testify about "criminal conduct" by Trump after he assumed the presidency. The person, who was not authorized to speak publicly, declined to characterize the conduct but said it happened during Trump's first year in the White House. Lanny Davis, an attorney for Cohen, said the post "set a new low" for the congressman, adding they would not respond to his lies and "personal smears." "We will not respond to Mr. Gaetz's despicable lies and personal smears, except to say we trust that his colleagues in the House, both Republicans and Democrats, will repudiate his words and his conduct," Davis said in a statement. Opinion:Jordan & Meadows: Democrats put out welcome mat for a liar. We can't trust Michael Cohen. "I also trust that his constituents will not appreciate that their congressman has set a new low — which in today’s political culture is hard to imagine as possible," Davis added. Those on Twitter, including members of Congress, reacted quickly, many pointing that the comments could be seen as intimidating a witness and witness tampering. Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-New Jersey, said the tweet warranted an investigation by the House Ethics Committee. "One of my colleagues, a duly elected member of Congress, has taken to twitter to intimidate a witness," Pascrell, Jr.‏ wrote. "This is grossly unethical and probably illegal (18 USC § 1512(b)). House Ethics must investigate this disgrace and stain on our institution." The statute Pascrell, Jr.‏ noted in his tweet is the law that states intimidating a witness is illegal. Sen. Chris Coons, D-Delaware, said Gaetz's tweet seemed like something "out of a Mob novel" not from a member of Congress.