OOPSIE TWEETIE

Rep. Matt Gaetz Tweets, Deletes Call to Defund FBI, the Agency Investigating Him

“If Democrats want to defund the police, they should start with the FBI,” Gaetz tweeted. He deleted it a minute later.

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) wrote a critique of a progressive slogan Wednesday that may have come off differently than he intended, given that the Florida congressman is under federal investigation for alleged sex trafficking. He wrote, “If Democrats want to defund the police, they should start with the FBI.” Gaetz deleted the tweet after just one minute. A spokesperson for Gaetz confirmed the tweet, telling Vice, “Rep. Gaetz felt it appropriate to remove a jocular tweet taken from a speech some time ago.” The Justice Department has been investigating Gaetz for more than a year, and a longtime associate of Gaetz, Joel Greenberg, has alleged that the Republican paid for sex with a minor.