Rep. Matt Gaetz’s (R-FL) father says he wore a wire for an FBI investigation into DOJ extortion claims on more than one occasion in the course of a probe regarding a potential extortion plot both father and son believe was orchestrated by former federal prosecutor David McGee.
“The FBI asked me to try and get that information for Matt and an indication we would transfer money to Mr. David McGee,” Don Gaetz, Matt’s father, said Tuesday without additional information during an interview.
According to Politico, “Don Gaetz said in the interview he wore a wire during a meeting earlier this month with McGee and said he was set to meet Wednesday with Stephen Alford, a local developer who he said is also part of the alleged extortion scheme.”
“During that meeting, Don Gaetz said, he was again set to wear a wire and try to get Alford to talk about payments he allegedly was to make to McGee, but the meeting fell apart when news broke that his son was being investigated by the Justice Department. Alford did not respond to text messages seeking comment,” the report said.
Breitbart News reported Tuesday Matt Gaetz booked an interview on FNC’s Tucker Carlson Tonight to responded to allegations “the Justice Department investigated him over whether he had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl.” Matt Gaetz has denied the allegations, claiming it was due to an extortion scheme, whose ringleader Gaetz named as Pensacola, Florida lawyer David McGee, a former U.S. Attorney.
Matt Gaetz believes the scheme was leaked to The New York Times to “quell” the investigation.
“What was supposed to happen was the transfer of this money that would have implicated the former colleague of these current DOJ officials,” he said. “But that’s obviously not going to happen tomorrow because The New York Times story was leaked in order to quell that investigative effort.”