ETHICS/HOUSE OF REPS/MICHAEL COHEN/TRUMP PEOPLE: “Representative Matt Gaetz, an outspoken Florida Republican with close ties to President Trump, has landed in hot water — again. The bipartisan leaders of the House Ethics Committee said on Friday [6-28-19] that Mr. Gaetz had flouted their requests for an in-person interview to answer to accusations that he had ‘sought to threaten, intimidate, harass or otherwise improperly influence’ the congressional testimony of Michael D. Cohen, Mr. Trump’s former personal lawyer and fixer. Refusing to talk to the committee, which polices the ethical conduct of House members, is exceedingly rare, and the committee leaders said Mr. Gaetz had left them no choice but to form a special investigative subcommittee to look further into the possible threat…The inquiry stems from a post on Twitter that Mr. Gaetz wrote in February on the eve of congressional testimony by Mr. Cohen in which the congressman threatened to expose what he said were Mr. Cohen’s extramarital affairs. Democrats called the tweet a clear effort to intimidate Mr. Cohen, who promised to and ultimately did implicate Mr. Trump in possible crimes and other unsavory behavior.”
–Nicholas Fandos, “Matt Gaetz, a Trump Ally, Is in Hot Water Again for Cohen Threat,” The New York Times online, June 28, 2019