MEMORIES

Gaetz Told Trump of Joe Scarborough Murder Conspiracy: Ex-WH Official

The story was shared by former Trump staffer and ‘The View’ cohost Alyssa Farah Griffin.

Former Trump staffer Alyssa Farah Griffin told The View her story about interacting with Attorney General nominee Matt Gaetz—which allegedly led to days of Trump tweeting conspiracy theories about MSNBC host Joe Scarborough. Griffin said she once met Gaetz outside the Oval Office, where she begged him not to show Trump a folder full of “printed out conspiracy theories that Joe Scarborough, of Morning Joe and a former congressman, had murdered his staffer.” Scarborough previously represented Florida’s first congressional district—the same district Gaetz represented from 2017 until his resignation on Wednesday. In 2001, his former staffer Lori Klausutis was found dead in Scarborough’s congressional office in Fort Walton Beach. A subsequent autopsy revealed the 28-year-old had an undiagnosed abnormal heart rhythm. She died from head trauma after passing out and falling, according to an Associated Press fact check. After the meeting, Trump spent days “tweeting false, malicious claims,” Griffin alleged, which eventually led to Klausutis’ husband begging Twitter to take down the posts. Griffin said the interaction “speaks to his character, integrity, and judgment.” Griffin previously told the same story to the House Select Committee on Jan. 6 when she was interviewed in 2022. In her testimony, Griffin said the story was “anecdotal” but included it to show that Trump was a “product of his advisors.”

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Zachary FolkFreelance Reporter

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