Speaker Pelosi responds to Matt Gaetz:

[Kingofalldems]

Link to tweet

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. I hope they censure that useless dirtbag.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

64. For sure! This sounded way too cordial for a felony.

[Kingofalldems]

2. Christine Pelosi for the win:

Link to tweet

[Wounded Bear]

24. Damn! Right on point! nt

[malaise]

42. Perfect

[James48]

3. They need to arrest him!

Gaetz’s tweet interferes with a witness. That’s a clear violation of 18 USC 1512.

Somebody needs to inform the FBI of Gartz’s Tweet now!

[walkingman]

6. +1

[onetexan]

47. Nancy's 411 is a warning she will have Dems led House Ethics Committee on them

[manor321]

4. I love how subtle it is. :)

[UniteFightBack]

5. Consequences need to reign the fuck down. IF YOU

behaved this way at your job...so UNPROFESSIONALLY...you would be canned. I've had enough of this sophomoric bullshit.

[magicarpet]

7. A subtle warning,... made by a dry drunk Fascist thug,...

Matt Gaetz warns not to derail Fuhrer trDump's second term coming in 2020 national election.

[GWC58]

20. Matt "Trumpian Stooge"

Gaetz sounded more like a two bit thug than a member of the U.S. House. Then again Gaetz is in the ReTRUMPLieCon Party. So, in that sense, I guess it’s pretty much the norm. 👿☠️

[meow2u3]

58. Matt "Cracker Corleone" Gaetz

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

8. I like her reminder that these statements "may not be protected by the Speech or Debate Clause"

and that "the committee on ethics should closely monitor" them. I hope she reams his ass and then sends him off to the ethics committee. At least.

[Autumn]

9. She should have called it for what it was. Witness intimidation. nt

[zentrum]

10. Incensed words are not enough.

[GulfCoast66]

14. You want her to spank him?

She just told him the ethics committee would be looking into this. Pretty much the limits of her power.

[zentrum]

22. Didn't say the Ethics Committee

...would look into him. She said they "should". Big difference.

One is a scold and one is a promise of action.

Something needs to happen immediately since Cohen is testifying tomorrow. He needs to feel protected.

[GulfCoast66]

26. What do you suggest?

[zentrum]

41. Didn't I already say it?

How about: “I am instructing the House Ethics Committee to begin an investigation immediately as to whether this violates the rules surrounding witness intimidation and obstruction of justice. We cannot ignore witness intimidation on the eve of testimony.”

Or some such. Said better, but you get the idea. She has the power. While power to "encourage" members "to be mindful" seems a damn impotent use of power---it's what a disapproving school teacher would say.

Needs to send a protective message to Cohen as well, right now.

Actually I'm not getting what you're not getting.

[GulfCoast66]

44. The speaker does not have that power.

They can recommend the investigation. Which I assume she has.

But the ethics committee is the one in congress that has equal representation from both parties. And a 50/50 vote is a loser.

So you suggestion is not plausible.

I totally agree the tweet was a violation of house rules and possibly illegal. But the speaker has very limited powers to stop it.

What she does have is the power to keep any republican bills off the floor. And she is using that power well.

I’m not getting what your not getting. Speaker Pelosi does not have the power to make the ethics committee investigate this blatant violation of house rules. Please stop criticizing her for that.

[RichardRay]

48. Thanks. I'm glad I read your post before I spent time explaining it. n/t

[True Blue American]

49. Matt said the same things on the House Floor.

The Ethics committee makes the decision. Bu you can bet Pelosi’s words carry weight.

Is he on the committee? You can bet the Leader will shut him down today.

[zentrum]

54. Thanks for the rules clarification.

That matters.

Nonetheless there's a more forceful, media-powerful way to call on the ethics committee. There's the power of framing. The power of words of true outrage. The power to name and educate the public on what it means when a Congress person threatens a witness.

I find the word "encourage" to be singularly mild.

But at this point, I won't say more b/c of the alert issue.

[zipplewrath]

57. Someone needs to file a complaint

Preferably someone from his own party. Makes it almost impossible for the ethics committee not to take it up.

[George II]

11. Some are saying it's witness tampering. My take on this, other than that, is that....

....it's suborning perjury and perhaps even obstruction of justice.

He's basically saying "lie tomorrow or else".

[bluestarone]

13. I have to agree with YOUR post!

That's exactly the message he was sending!

[Leghorn21]

17. Oh holy hell, +++++

Damn man, great point

[Kurt V.]

12. he doesn't care what the Speaker says. he is full of hubris and will be his own downfall.

[UpInArms]

19. Here is what the Southern Poverty Law Center says about Gaetz

Meet the members of Congress who traffic in hate and extremism.

Matt Gaetz

Florida | House

Won with 67.1%

Matt Gaetz was elected to his second term in the U.S. House of Representatives. He previously served in the Florida state House of Representatives. Gaetz invited Chuck Johnson, a white nationalist “Trump Troll,” to Trump’s State of the Union address in January 2018. Johnson is a Holocaust denier who developed WeSearchr, a payment platform for racist “alt-right” crowdfunding.

[MLAA]

29. Thanks for posting and thanks to SPLC for all their important work.

[UpInArms]

45. I can think of no organization that I have more respect for

Than the SPLC

So very honorable

[True Blue American]

52. Thanks for that!

Mark Harris did not win and is not running again. A little good news.

Now, we need to run good candidates against them, although Marsha and Ted are entrenched for 6 years.

[still_one]

55. Thanks for this. It is important that these people get expossed for who they are

[Honeycombe8]

15. ZING! Glad she responded. nt

[samnsara]

16. i hope shes meaner to him in private

[GulfCoast66]

28. What can she do? Give him a lecture? Spank him?

[grantcart]

60. Referral to prosecutors for possible criminal charges

[watoos]

18. Sadly you do have to prove intent.

Gaetz has a good case to say he was just being an ass. Freedumb caucus member.

[mcar]

21. Lock him up!

Disgusting little

[DallasNE]

23. What Happened?

The only thing I found was 7 DUI arrests and 0 convictions, thanks to daddy.

[Mr. Sparkle]

25. Thats not a good reply.

Given the gravity of the situation it comes across as pathetic. I hope she reconsiders and put out a more appropriate response.

[GulfCoast66]

30. Your suggestions?

She can’t censor him. Can’t send him to the ethics committee.

A spanking? Purple Nurple? A lecture.

I as much as anyone wish it could be stopped. But until a critic of hers gives an example of what she can do, it appears she is limited in her power here.

[Mr. Sparkle]

31. If i knew what options were available to me in her position, i would let you know.

as i dont, all i can say is that statement put out is disappointingly poor.

[GulfCoast66]

36. What should she have said? And realize she knows the landscape better than anyone.

She pretty much said it was an ethics violation. But has no power to make them take it up.

If your going to criticize you need to have a better course of action.

Ever think she might be more pissed about this than us? But knows the limits of her powers?

[Mr. Sparkle]

39. Why are you running around questioning everyone who is not happy about the tweet?

are you a paid staffer ?

[GulfCoast66]

40. Paid staffer! LOL! I'm a 53 year old overweight guy in central Florida!

Working for a major company in agriculture!

I am concerned about what I see as criticism of our speaker about her reaction to a possibly illegal tweet by one of the most corrupt republican in Congress.

I agree it was deplorable and probably a violation of House Rules.

I’m just asking what more Speaker Pelosi could do?

I will be first in line to criticize when I think our representatives fuck up. But the criticism of her seems misplaced.

You really think Speaker Pelosi would invest 3 years of a staffer to develop my DU history, which I am open about just to head off controversy? I wish she was that good.

Being called a paid staffer for defending the Democratic Speaker of the House. Perhaps my shining moment on DU!

[Mr. Sparkle]

43. Then dont be so precious, I'm still a big fan of hers but her tweet fell way flat for the

situation. Ted Lieu's tweet on the other hand was brilliant.

If her powers are so restricted, than she could have said that she would use everything at her disposal to profusely condemn the intimation of witness's in front of congress, and these actions do not belong to a member of congress. And those who use them should consider their resignation.

[GulfCoast66]

46. Mr. Sparkle. You accuse me of being a staffer of Pelosi. But I am being Precious?

That’s rich!

As the speaker she knows she can’t stop this shit.

But she is the face of the party now. She know there other members of the party like representative Lieu who will carry the message to our base. Not her job.

If we want to win in 2020 Speaker Pelosi can’t just speak to the base like trump is. She is forced to be the adult in the room.

She has bigger fish to fry than one tweet by the most deplorable member of Congress.

This is why I hate online communication. If you and I were sitting next to each other in a bar, or coffee shop if you don’t drink, we would quickly find common ground. But the limitations of written communication makes that difficult

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

27. Touche'

[Mme. Defarge]

32. Isn't this the whole point?

“... adversely affect the ability of House Committees to obtain the truthful and complete information necessary to fulfill their duties.”

[ZeroSomeBrains]

33. Censure Gaetz

If I threatened a witness like he did I would be charged with a crime. Lock him up!

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

34. Would've preferred that Nancy sent a tweet instructing federal authorities to arrest that POS Gaetz!

[GulfCoast66]

38. Thankfully Speakers of the House dont have that power.

[grantcart]

61. A referral to prosecutors would be in a confidential letter

[KY_EnviroGuy]

35. The Speaker rightfully refused to try and convict by court of social media. She knows better.

Otherwise, she would be no better than Gaetz. She has however, carefully reiterated the rules.

She has committees seated to investigate these issues and plenty of professional staff behind them. Let's allow them to do their job.

We can all write our Congressional representatives to express our alarm.

.........

[True Blue American]

53. Yes!

[defacto7]

37. It may not be what I wanted to hear, but it was probably what needed to be said.

[DirtEdonE]

50. It's simple

Do the same thing to gaetz that the pubicans would do to a Democrat if the tables were turned.

If he was a Democrat, the pubicans would run that asshole gaetz of congress in an afternoon - probably with some Democratic support.

[beachbum bob]

51. Pelosi has many things she can do with this guy and others like him

don't mess with the Speaker of the House and not expect retaliation

[DeminPennswoods]

56. Entirely possible Pelosi's message is too subtle

for Gaetz to understand.

[ehrnst]

59. He's not her audience. She's letting everyone else know that it's

a breach of rules.

[MrModerate]

62. "Careful, or Momma will spank." n/t

[SergeStorms]

63. You go, Madam Speaker!

Take those freaking treasonous republican bastards to the wood shed!