Fox News ' Tucker Carlson was stunned by Rep Matt Gaetz 's appearance on his show Tuesday night, calling it one of the 'weird...
Fox News' Tucker Carlson was stunned by Rep Matt Gaetz's appearance on his show Tuesday night, calling it one of the 'weirdest interviews' ever.
Gaetz had on Tuesday claimed he is the victim of a $25million extortion plot after the New York Times revealed he is under investigation for sex trafficking over allegations he had a sexual relationship with a teenage girl, 17, and paid to have her travel with him. During the interview Gaetz denied all of the allegations against him.
'It is a horrible allegation and it is a lie,' he told Carlson. 'The New York Times is running a story that I have traveled with a 17-year-old woman and that is verifiably false. People can look at my travel records and see that that is not the case.'
When asked about the alleged sexual relationship with the teen, Gaetz said such a person 'doesn't exist'.
However, Gaetz recalled a dinner with Carlson, his wife and 'a friend of mine' who he said has since been 'threatened' by authorities to 'cop to the fact that somehow I was involved in some pay for play scheme'.
'I can say that actually you and I went to dinner about two years ago, your wife was there and I brought a friend of mine, you will remember her,' he said. 'And she was actually threatened by the FBI, told that if she wouldn't cop to the fact that somehow I was involved in some pay for play scheme that she could face trouble and so I do believe that there are people at the Department of Justice who are trying to smear me.'
In response to that claim, Carlson says: 'I don't remember the women you're speaking of or the context at all honestly.'
Following the segment, Carlson told his viewers: 'You just saw our Matt Gaetz interview. That was one of the weirdest interviews I’ve ever conducted.'
Fox News' Tucker Carlson (left) was stunned by Rep Matt Gaetz's (right) appearance on his show Tuesday night, calling it the 'weirdest interview' ever
'That story just appeared in the news a couple of hours ago, and on the certainty that there’s always more than you read in the newspaper, we immediately called Matt Gaetz and asked him to come on and tell us more. Which, as you saw, he did. I don’t think that clarified much, but it certainly showed this is a deeply interesting story and we’ll be following it,' Carlson added.
Gaetz, a prominent conservative in Congress and a close ally of former President Donald Trump, is under investigation to determine if he violated federal sex trafficking laws.
The probe has been underway for nearly a year and Gaetz, who represents parts of western Florida, has been aware for months that he was under investigation, the person familiar with the matter told the Associated Press.
The Justice Department has also been looking into whether Gaetz, 38, may have also been involved in relationships with other underage girls, the person said. The person could not publicly discuss the details of an ongoing investigation and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.
Gaetz told Axios that his lawyers were informed that he was the subject of an investigation 'regarding sexual conduct with women' but that he was not a target of the probe.
He denied that he ever had a relationship with any underage girls and said the allegations against him were 'as searing as they are false'.
Attorney David McGee insisted he was not part of a plan to extort Gaetz, nor was he connected to the DOJ's sex trafficking probe
Gaetz, a prominent conservative in Congress and a close ally of former President Donald Trump, (pictured together in January 2018) is under investigation to determine if he violated federal sex trafficking laws
Gaetz's comments came shortly after the Times first reported the investigation. Gaetz alleged that the allegations were part of an extortion plot by a former Justice Department official, David McGee.
Gaetz accused McGee live on Carlson's show of trying to extort millions of dollars out of him and his family in exchange for 'making horrible sex trafficking allegations against me go away'.
'Over the past several weeks my family and I have been victims of an organized criminal extortion involving a former DOJ official seeking $25million while threatening to smear my name,' Gaetz said in a statement.
Gaetz said his family has been cooperating with the FBI and said his father was wearing a recording device, at the FBI's direction, 'to catch these criminals'. He demanded the Justice Department release the recordings.
'No part of the allegations against me are true, and the people pushing these lies are targets of the ongoing extortion investigation,' he said.
The Times cited three people familiar with the matter, saying the scrutiny was part of a broader Justice Department probe into one of his political allies and fellow Florida politician, Joel Greenberg, who was indicted last summer on sex trafficking and other charges that he stalked a political opponent.
A judge ordered the former tax collector back to jail earlier this month for violating the conditions of his release.
'I believe that there are people at the Department of Justice who are trying to criminalize my sexual conduct, you know, when I was a single guy,' Gaetz told Axios.
'I have definitely, in my single days, provided for women I've dated,' Gaetz said.
'You know, I've paid for flights, for hotel rooms. I've been, you know, generous as a partner. I think someone is trying to make that look criminal when it is not.'
Gaetz has not been charged with a crime. The Justice Department did not immediately comment.
No comments