DEMS/ETHICS/GOP/MICHAEL COHEN/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP PEOPLE: “Democratic Rep. Kathleen Rice of New York, a former federal prosecutor, has asked the House Ethics Committee to investigate a statement Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz made about Michael Cohen, saying that she believes the GOP lawmaker’s comments could rise to the level of witness tampering and intimidation. Gaetz, a close ally to the President, tweeted at Cohen on Tuesday, saying, ‘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.’ The statement — which came the day before Cohen, Trump’s former personal lawyer, testified publicly before Congress — sparked an immediate backlash, including from some House Democrats who suggested that it amounted to witness intimidation. In a letter sent to the chairman and top Republican on the House Ethics Committee on Tuesday [2-26-19], Rice asks for the panel to ‘immediately open an investigation’ into the statement.”
–Ashley Killough and Clare Foran, “Democratic lawmaker asks for ethics investigation into GOP lawmaker’s Michael Cohen tweet,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, February 27, 2019 10:05 pm