COMPANIES IN ATLANTA, SOME OF
THE BIGGEST COMPANIES IN THE
WORLD, AS WELL.
WE’LL GET TO THAT IN JUST A
MINUTE.
BUT LET’S BEGIN WITH THE LATEST
ON THE INVESTIGATION OF OF
POSSIBLE SEX TRAFFICKING BY
REPUBLICAN CONGRESSMAN MATT
GAETZ OF FLORIDA.
"THE NEW YORK TIMES" WAS FIRST
TO REPORT FEDERAL INVESTIGATORS
ARE LOOKING INTO WHETHER GAETZ
HAD A SEXUAL RELATIONSHIP WITH A
17-YEAR-OLD GIRL AND WHETHER HE
PAID FOR HER TO TRAVEL WITH HIM
ACROSS STATE LINES.
WHEN ASKED ABOUT THE ALLEGATION
TUESDAY NIGHT, THE CONGRESSMAN,
WHO DENIES ANY RELATIONSHIP WITH
A 17-YEAR-OLD, SAID HE DID
NOTHING WRONG, CLAIMED IT WAS
PART OF AN EFFORT TO EXTORT HIM
AND HIS FAMILY.
LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS NOW
TELL NBC NEWS THE SEX
TRAFFICKING INVESTIGATION INTO
CONGRESSMAN GAETZ AND THE
EXTORTION ALLEGATIONS MADE BY
GAETZ ARE TWO SEPARATE
INVESTIGATIONS.
THERE ALSO IS NEW INFORMATION ON
THE INVESTIGATION THAT PUT
CONGRESSMAN GAETZ ON THE RADAR
OF THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT.
FEDERAL OFFICIALS TELLING NBC
NEWS THE INVESTIGATION INTO THE
CONGRESSMAN BEGAN LAST YEAR WHEN
AN ASSOCIATE, FORMER SEMINOLE
COUNTY, FLORIDA, TAX COLLECTOR
JOEL GREENBERG WAS INDICTED ON
CHARGES TIED TO HIS ALLEGED
HARASSMENT OF A POLITICAL
OPPONENT.
OFFICIALS SAY GREENBERG,
PICTURED HERE WITH GAETZ AND
ROGER STONE IN 2017, MISUSED HIS
POSITION AS TAX COLLECTOR TO
CREATE FAKE I.D.s FOR HIMSELF.
THAT INVESTIGATION LED TO A
SECOND SUPERCEDING INDICTMENT,
ALLEGING THAT HE USED THE
FLORIDA MOTOR VEHICLE DATABASE
TO OBTAIN INFORMATION ON
INDIVIDUALS WITH WHOM HE WAS
ENGAGED IN, QUOTE, SUGAR
DADDY-TYPE RELATIONSHIPS.
SO IT IS OUT OF THAT
INVESTIGATION, OFFICIALS TELL
NBC NEWS, AUTHORITIES DEVELOPED
A LEAD THAT LED THEM TO
INVESTIGATE WHETHER GAETZ WAS
INVOLVED WITH SEX TRAFFICKING IN
UNDERAGE GIRL.
GREENBERG’S ATTORNEY RELEASED A
STATEMENT SAYING, QUOTE, RIGHT
NOW WE’RE PREPARING FOR THE
UPCOMING TRIAL DATE IN JUNE.
JOEL MAINTAINS HIS INNOCENCE AND
HAS PREVIOUSLY PLEADED NOT
GUILTY.
A LOT TO SUSS THROUGH THERE.
LET’S BRING IN NATIONAL
CORRESPONDENT AT POLITICO, BETSY
WOODRUFF SWANN, AND PROFESSOR IN
LAW AT GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY,
PAUL BUTLER.
HE IS AN MSNBC LEGAL ANALYST.
GOOD MORNING TO YOU BOTH.
SO, BETSY YIBETSY, I UNDERSTAND
TALKED TO MATT GAETZ’S FATHER, A
PROMINENT POLITICAL FIGURE IN
THE STATE OF FLORIDA.
HELP US SEPARATE OUT WHAT’S
GOING ON HERE, BECAUSE THERE
SEEMS TO BE THIS CLAIM OF AN
EXTORTION PLOT FROM THE GAETZES
THAT GOES NO PARALLEL AND
SEPARATE FROM THIS OTHER
INVESTIGATION AT THE JUSTICE
DEPARTMENT INTO POSSIBLE SEX
TRAFFICKING THAT SPUN OUT OF THE
INVESTIGATION INTO JOEL
GREENBERG.
>> RIGHT.
MY COLLEAGUE HAS BEEN COVERING
TALLAHASSEE VERY CLOSELY FOR A
LONG TIME, HAD A DETAILED
CONVERSATION WITH JOHN GAETZ,
MATT GAETZ’ FATHER YESTERDAY.
JOHN IS VERY WEALTHY, A FORMER
LONGTIME INSIDER TALLAHASSEE
POLITICIAN.
AND IN A DETAILED INTERVIEW, HE
TOLD US ON THE RECORD THAT HE’S
WORN A WIRE MULTIPLE TIMES AS
PART OF AN EFFORT TO TRY TO HELP
THE FBI INVESTIGATE WHAT HE AND
HIS SON PURPORT TO BE AN
EXTORTION PLOT TARGETED AT THEIR
FAMILY.
THE IMPORTANT THING FOR PEOPLE
TO REMEMBER HERE, WHO MAY BE
GETTING A LITTLE LOST BY THE
VERY SOAP OPRIY THREADS THAT
SEEMS TO BE UNFOLDING IS THAT
IT’S POSSIBLE ALL OF THE
ALLEGATIONS THAT HAVE BEEN LAID
OUT, BOTH BY MATT GAETZ, BY HIS
FATHER, DON GAETZ, AND
REPORTEDLY WITH WHAT THE FBI IS
INVESTIGATING COULD BE CORRECT.
MATT AND HIS FATHER SAY -- THEY
SAY THAT THERE WAS AN EFFORT
SPENT TO PRESSURE THEM TO PAY
$25 MILLION TO HELP WITH THE
RESCUE OF BOB LEVENSON.
BOB LEVENSON A MAN WHO WAS TAKEN
HOST ANIMAL BY THE IRANI
GOVERNMENT, HE’S A U.S. CITIZEN,
HE’S WIDELY REPORTED TO HAVE
BEEN PASSED AWAY FOR QUITE SOME
TIME.
BUT DESPITE THAT, THE GAETZES
SAY THAT THEY WERE PRESSURED TO
PUT UP $25 MILLION TO TRY TO
HELP TO FUND HIS RESCUE FROM
IRAN.
AND THEY SAY THAT THE OFFER WAS,
PAY UP THIS $25 MILLION AND IT
WILL MAKE YOU AN AMERICAN HERO,
IT WILL MAKE THE BIDEN
ADMINISTRATION DELIGHTED WITH
YOU, IT WILL FIX YOUR
REPUTATIONAL PROBLEMS, AND THEN,
PROBLEM SOLVED, THIS WHOLE FBI
PROBLEM WILL GO AWAY.
NOW, MATT GAETZ AND HIS FATHER
SAY THAT THAT WAS AN EXTORTION
PLOT, THAT THAT’S THE REAL
STORY, THAT THE INVESTIGATIONS
INVOLVING JOEL GREENBERG AND
POTENTIAL ALLEGATIONS INTO THE
CONGRESSMAN HIMSELF ARE SPECIOUS
AND PEOPLE NEED TO BE FOCUSING
ON THESE EXTORTION ALLEGATIONS
THAT THEY’RE MAKING INSTEAD.
OF COURSE, CRITICS OF THE GAETZ
FAMILY SAY THAT THIS IS A
DISTRACTION AND THE IMPORTANT
THING FOR VIEWERS TO REMEMBER IS
THAT IT’S POSSIBLE THERE’S MORE
THAN ONE COHORT OF, SHALL WE
SAY, QUESTIONABLE FOLKS INVOLVED
IN THIS INCREASINGLY LURID
FLORIDA POLITICAL SAGA.
>> BETSY, EXPLAIN SORT OF THE
INTERESTING NUANCES OF THE BILL
BARR ANGLE OF THIS, BECAUSE THIS
STARTED UNDER HIS TIME, SERVING
AS ATTORNEY GENERAL?
>> THAT’S RIGHT.
WHAT I CAN TELL YOU IS THAT
THEN-ATTORNEY GENERAL BILL BARR
WAS BRIEFED MULTIPLE TIMES ON
THE GAETZ INVESTIGATION STARTING
IN THE SUMMER OF 2020.
EARLY 2020, HE SENT DOWN A MEMO
REQUIRING THAT SENIOR DOJ
LEADERSHIP RECEIVE BRIEFINGS ON
ANY INVESTIGATION INTO ANYONE
RUNNING FOR FEDERAL OFFICE.
SO HE RECEIVED THOSE BRIEFINGS,
AND IT ACTUALLY CREATED A
SLIGHTLY UNCOMFORTABLE MOMENT
FOR SENIOR LEADERSHIP AT DOJ.
WHAT I’M TOLD IS THAT BARR WAS
SCHEDULED TO ATTEND A
MEET-AND-GREET WITH REPUBLICAN
MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE JUDICIARY
COMMITTEE LAST SUMMER, BUT WHEN
MATT GAETZ RSVP’d FOR THE EVENT,
BARR HAD TO ABRUPTLY CANCEL,
BECAUSE HE DIDN’T WANT TO BE IN
A SITUATION WHERE HE WAS HAVING
A PRIVATE MEETING WITH SOMEONE
WHO WAS UNDER INVESTIGATION,
SIMULTANEOUSLY, BY THE FBI.
AND THAT RAISES THE VERY AWKWARD
SPECTER OF A MEMBER OF THE
CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE, THAT’S
RESPONSIBLE FOR FUNDING AND
OVERSEEING THE FBI,
SIMULTANEOUSLY, ACCORDING TO
THESE REPORTS, BEING UNDER
INVESTIGATION BY THAT SAME LAW
ENFORCEMENT AGENCY.
>> SO, PAUL BUTLER, WE SHOULD
UNDERLINE THAT CONGRESSMAN GAETZ
HASN’T BEEN CHARGED WITH
ANYTHING, DENIES ANY INVOLVEMENT
WITH THIS 17-YEAR-OLD.
BUT AS A PROSECUTOR, AS YOU’RE
LOOKING AT THIS SORT OF STEW OF
ELEMENTS THAT GO INTO THESE
STORIES, DIFFERENT PEOPLE, AN
EXTORTION PLOT, AND ROBERT
LEVENSON IN IRAN, WHERE IS YOUR
FOCUS AND WHERE DO YOU SEE THE
LEGAL EXPOSURE FOR CONGRESSMAN
GAETZ?
>> SO, WILLIE, THERE ARE THREE
INVESTIGATIONS GOING ON RIGHT
NOW.
IT’S A FEDERAL CRIME TO INDUCE A
MINOR TO TRAVEL OVER STATE LINES
FOR SEX IN EXCHANGE FOR MONEY.
THAT’S WHAT GAETZ IS BEING
INVESTIGATED FOR.
VIOLATING THE FEDERAL SEXUAL
TRAFFICKING LAWS.
AND THEN WE HAVE THIS EXTORTION
INVESTIGATION.
SOMEONE ALLEGEDLY TRYING TO
EXTORT GAETZ AND HIS FAMILY TO
MAKE THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
INVESTIGATION GO AWAY.
BETSY ABSOLUTELY RIGHT.
BOTH THINGS CAN BE TRUE.
GAETZ CAN BE THE PERPETRATOR OF
ONE CRIME AND THE VICTIM OF
ANOTHER.
BUT GAETZ HAS TO BE ESPECIALLY
WORRIED ABOUT THIS THIRD
INVESTIGATION OF JOEL GREENBERG.
THAT’S THE FLORIDA OFFICIAL AND
GOOD FRIEND OF GAETZ WHO HAS
ALREADY BEEN INDICTED FOR CHILD
SEX TRAFFICKING.
AND GREENBERG VIOLATED HIS BAIL,
SO HE’S LOCKED UP RIGHT NOW
PENDING HIS TRIAL IN JUNE.
SO WILLIE, HE HAS A LOT OF
INCENTIVE TO COOPERATE IN AN
INVESTIGATION OF GAETZ.
SO IN THAT INVESTIGATION OF