matt gaetz says he has never paid for sex, right? but it doesn't get you out of legal jeopardy if your buddy pays for sex and then you pay your buddy the same a. i'm not saying that's what happened here, there seems to be a case if your reporting is true it did. but from a legal exposure standpoint, if someone pays for sex and you pay them, you're not off the hook, correct? >> that's right. that's part of a conspiracy. now, what we have here, and it is worth going through the detail. we got hold of venmo payments. as anybody who uses venmo knows, when you pay anyone anything, you have to explain what that thing is for. we have to ask, why would a sitting congressman be making two payments, one of which says to hit up, it says "hit up" and it mentions are girls name, a name that hours later receives money from that same person who got that money. and so that's what we got here. we got venmo transactions that definitively tie him to them. we have more coming because we don't just have these financial transactions. >> well, what do you

>> i wanted to meet with matt gaetz. he had the ability to raise the money quickly, and yes, i did put that in there as a teaser, because as i said, mr. gaetz was in need of some good will, and we worked with multiple people over the years. and all of them have been in similar situations. a lot of them have been facing indictments or all looking for goodwill from the u.s. government. >> one of the things you have circumstanceally without getting too in the weeds against you, is one of the guys who you were working with on this and approaching the gaetz has a criminal record. for being a fraudster. why would you be associated with somebody like that? >> so i was contacted by david mcgee in october. and he asked me to meet with somebody, which steven offered, because he wanted to help with levenson, and believed he could get him out. after the rescue attempt fell apart in july, i had no contact with dave after that. i said sorry it didn't work out. we went forward. he wished me the best of luck in my future endeavors. then

is there exposure for matt gaetz. here is greenberg's attorney after court today. >> does matt gaetz have anything to worry about? >> i'm sure matt gaetz is not feeling very comfortable today. >> there are people who see that as an ominous sign for gaetz. we're not yet reporting anything that confirms some kind of cooperation here. now, if greenberg does cooperate, if he does have evidence of interest to the feds, he could, like anyone else, get a more lenient sentence. he's looking at 12 years in business. all this comes as a new report is breaking first from cbs news and nbc news confirmed that the feds are probing a trip to the bahamas in late 2018 or early 2019. it is relevant to the probe because it involves, quote, women paid to travel for sex, which could violate federal law and whether gaetz or greenberg who was in court today used the internet to search for women they could pay for sex. in addition, the reporting says, quote, gaetz was on that trip with a marijuana entrepreneur. again, gaetz denying all of th

congressman matt gaetz's office speak out in defense of representative gaetz.on every occasion he has treated each and every one of us with respect. thus we uniformly reject these allegations as false. okay, but here's the fun thing. the letter is not actually signed by any specific women -- just the women of the office of united states congressman matt gaetz. when pressed by nbc, an aide said on background that there are eight women in the office, and all eight have signed on to the letter. but the aide did not respond to requests to release the names of those aides who gaetz's office claim fully support him in these challenging times. joining me now, katie benner, justice department reporter for "the new york times," and katie phang, msnbc legal contributor. the katies are here for us tonight. i'm going to start with katie benner. let's talk about this. these two, mr. greenberg and mr. gaetz, reportedly shared girlfriends, at least one. gaetz called him his wingman. three greenberg friends told politico that they personally heard him boast about his 2017 rela

but matt gaetz should have been dealt with long before these latest headlines. gaetz is exactly the type of elected republican that john boehner claims to so disdain, a man who has always cared more about getting on television and inflaming the base than getting things done, and it's not like there haven't been red flags. gaetz showed nude photos of women he said he'd slept with to lawmakers in the florida house. abc news reports some women referred to him as creepy gaetz, and he was part of a group of young male lawmakers who created a game to score their female sexual conquests. the daily beast reported that republicans have been waiting for a matt gaetz scandal to break and that more than half a dozen lawmakers have spoken to reporters about his love of alcohol and illegal drugs as well as his proclivity for younger women. we had mentioned that when we had the co-author of that piece last night because we wanted to give gaetz the benefit of the doubt. now there's new reporting from the "new york times" as well citing text messages, receipts and interviews that

, lawrence, that is quite an ask. >>> there is news tonight from "politico" about what might be matt gaetz say he is to be the featured speaker at a pro-trump women's speaker event this friday in florida at a trump country club there. it says, the organization praised gaetz as one of the few members of congress willing to stand up and fight on behalf of president trump and his america first agenda. it is likely we won't hear any facts on this case. >> probably not, but they will be listening keenly, because matt gaetz is always making admissions. he is his own worst enemy. so you know what? let him continue to talk because he's only providing more evidence for investigators and prosecutors. >> glenn kirschner, thank you very much for joining us. really appreciate it. >> thank you, lawrence. >>> coming up, major league baseball is moving the all-star game west from atlanta to denver, colorado and that provoked a bunch of lies from republicans today about election laws in colorado. the new governor of the all-star game, colorado governor jared polis will join us next. polis will join us next

and trump loyalist, matt gaetz himself. he spoke publicly for the first time since the reports surfaced of an ongoing justice department investigation into sex trafficking, involving a minor and allegations of payments for sex and possible public corruption involving a state senate campaign. gaetz took to the stage at a save america summit hosted by women for america first at the trump doral hotel. >> i am built for the battle and i am not going anywhere. distortions of my personal life and wild, and i mean wild conspiracy theories. i won't be intimidated by a lying media and d.o.j. officials and the crooks he is working with. when you see the leaks, lies, falsehoods, anonymous sources and insiders forecasting my demise. know this, they are not really coming for me. they are coming for you. >> earlier today the house ethics committee announced their own investigation into gaetz for sexual misconduct and his office responded with this statement. once again the office will reiterate, these allegations are blatantly false and

but "the new york times" never said that matt gaetz asked donald trump directly for a pardon and so matte new york times" has reported about gaetz asking the white house for a blanket pre-emptive pardon for himself and other members of congress. tonight nbc news has confirmed a report earlier tonight from cbs news. cbs news reported federal investigators are looking into a bahamas trip matt gaetz allegedly took in late 2018 or early 2019 as part of an inquiry into whether he violated sex trafficking laws. gaetz was on that trip with a marijuana entrepreneur. a hand surgeon who allegedly paid for the travel expenses, accommodations, and female escorts, the sources said. investigators are trying to determine if the escorts were illegally trafficked across state or international lines for the purpose of sex with the congressman. msnbc reached out to jason pirozzolo but received no answer. the congressman characerized the investigation as a general fishing exercise about vacations and consensual relationships with adults. and joining us now is john heilemann, the host and executive producer

so, yeah, matt gaetz needs to switch to decaf. at any moment, a federal official could be knocking at his door with a pair of handcuffs. you know matt has been losing a lot of sleep since joel greenberg was arrested last year. as the investigation has unraveled, you see more and more information. greenberg say walking crime machine. he's like the perfect person to flip, because he's facing up to life in prison. this is his only way out of it. and i think it is inevitable that he is going to flip against matt. >> dave aronburg, we'll continue this conversation down the road. thank you for being with us. >>> taking a close look at congressman gaetz. sunlen, the florida republican has been a lightning rod during his brief career. update our viewers. >> that's right, wolf. he certainly has garnered a lot of national attention, mostly focused on his political stunts and combative ways on capitol hill. not on making deep relationships or passing any legislation, but for matt gaetz, that strategy is nothing new. >> the left in america has

before you go, i want to talk about matt gaetz.epublican sp are for matt gaetz has been practically non-existent. republican adam kinzinger calling for him to resign. read the tea leaves here. how long can he hang on? >> i mean, i think the republicans -- we had a president that, what was it, 26 or 27 women had valid allegations of sexual harassment or sexual abuse against the president and he got nominate and he almost won a second term? i think the only way it keeps going -- the only way it stops and matt gaetz ultimately resigns or is removed from the house is if the criminal prosecution of matt gaetz proceeds. he is not going to resign because of how the republican party has supported people that are basically neanderthals throughout this whole thing. it's going to take a criminal prosecution in order to get matt gaetz to be removed from the house, in my view. >> math yeah dowd, thank you, sir. always a pleasure. >> thanks, don. >>> the feds now investigating whether women were paid to travel to the bahamas for sex with congres

matt gaetz has never paid for sex. matt gaetz refutes all of the disgusting allegations completely. matt gaetz has never, ever been on any such websites whatsoever. matt gaetz cherishes the relationships in his past and looks forward to marrying the love of his life. >> he has never explained the payments only saying he never paid for sex. another interesting allegation that came up in our reporting and also in cnn's reporting was the use of drugs in these encounters. so what we know is that women have told the fbi that gaetz and his -- and greenberg, they took drugs with them before having sex and that was very common in a lot of these encounters. again, i think that the prosecutors will look at that evidence, if they are able to corroborate it, and they will say to themselves, what is this? is this a federal crime? what does this contribute to in terms of our ability or not to charge. >> again, this comes from one of ex-president trump's strongest defenders. talk about a swamp. thank you very much for all your reporting. >>> now on to the political fallout from this gaetz scandal.

better life. ♪♪ >>> strong new reaction on capitol hill today about the future of congressman matt gaetzan refuses to resign amid a reported sex trafficking probe. "the new york times" reports the d.o.j. is investigating whether gaetz and a florida politician recruited women for sex in exchange for cash. the "times" cites interviews, text messages and receipts, though nbc news has not viewed those documents. the justice department is also looking into allegations gaetz had a sexual relationship with a minor and paid for her to travel with him. earlier, i asked democrat congressman seth moulton what he thinks should happen to his republican colleague. here's his scathing assessment. >> matt gaetz is having one hell of an easter weekend here. these are very serious allegations. and if they are proven, he doesn't just need to be removed from congress or from a committee, as some people are calling for. he needs to go to prison. and he shouldn't serve on the prison library committee, let alone the house judiciary committee. this is disgusting. will it impact his work? i mean, frankly, he's n

matt gaetz, you know, he took calls from donald trump. he would call in nightclubs, on his car, sleeping. the relationship went from there. gaetz is someone that rode maga world for all that it was worth. >> stephanie for those in washington not thinking about matt gaetz or thinking about the infrastructure bill, the president is working to win over lawmakers on this. democrats and republicans supported infrastructure in the past. we recognize the investment will require concessions on both sides. we are supportive of a rise in the corporate tax rate. what do you make of that warm hug from amazon? >> i think there is some level of rock on with your bad self. one way they are look to pay for the plan is by raising corporate taxes. we are hearing push backs from multinational companies and the business roundtable. that pushed janet yellen to push the idea of a global minimum tax rate saying stop the race to the bottom where companies are looking for headquarters in lower taxed countries and in this race to the bottom for cheaper labor. jane

day 77 of the biden administration and there is breaking news about matt gaetz, the florida congressmansible sex trafficking. tonight the "new york times" reveals gaetz was looking to get a blanket pardon from former president trump. in the final weeks of mr. trump's term he privately asked the white house for blanket preselfive pardons for himself

"not much, just hung out," said matt gaetz before anyone could talkn matt gaetz used the cash transfercus "tuition and school," which is a pretty weak attempt to cover your tracks. that's like leaving your wallet at a crime scene but wiping your finger prints off it the house ethics committee announced friday it will launch an investigation into republican congressman matt gaetz over allegations that he, quote, "may have engaged in sexual misconduct, and/or elicit drug use, shared inappropriate images or videos on the house floor, misused state identification records, converted campaign funds to personal use and/or accepted a bribe, improper gratuity or impermissible gift." or as republicans call it, "running for re-election." new york city mayoral candidate andrew yang marked national pet day yesterday by tweeting that his family had to give away their dog after one of his sons became allergic. whoa, i can't wait to see what he posts for mother's day. [ light laughter ] he's the new scollins. he's ruining days. [ light laughter ] two weeks off, i felt like days were safe. britain's pr

but first we thought it would be worth reminding you who matt gaetz was before he was under investigation in a child sex trafficking case because this guy is really something. gaetz is the son of wealthy former florida senate president don gaetz whose connections and deep pockets helped his son get elected to the florida house and eventually to the united states congress in 2008 matt gaetz was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving while driving his dad's bmw. the charges were eventually dropped but the incident reinforced his local reputation as an entitled near do elas one local paper described him. mocking food stamp recipients and facing acswrags of racism for questioning the intelligence of two black lawmakers and then he came to washington and quickly became known as one of donald trump's staunchest defenders. with gaetz agregleefully trollig the former president's critics as a u.s. congressman gaetz brought an accused holocaust denier to the state of the union, suggested george soros was paying honduran kids to storm the u.s. border. when the father of a child murdered in the child

trump as well, and matt gaetz. >> no. and, first of all, ali, sage advice when it comes to public versus private venmo accounts. this is not a surprising take from congressman kinzinger who has been one of the few republicans to sort of break with president trump and former president trump and his disciples of which congressman gaetz is certainly one of the more ardent ones where he's really patented himself as an heir to the trump throne. kinzinger has founded a group to try to unseat these republicans and replace them with more moderate members, ones willing to occasionally work across the aisle with democrats. but so far his voice is fairly lonely. gaetz, of course, as you noted is going to be in florida this week at president trump's former club and also this weekend there's a gathering of top republicans at, where else, palm beach, florida, just up the road from mar-a-lago, the former president's estate, and there is expected to be an event there, which underscores what a shadow he still casts over the republican par

"matt gaetz, loyal for years to trump is said to have sought a blanket pardon. that is not the kind of pardon that you need for your blanket. what this means is that he was asking for a pardon for himself for things for which he has not yet charged. this is the latest development in a bizarre and a stomach-churning story that we have been covering for about a week. matt gaetz is a republican congressman from florida as the headline alludes to and one of the most stanch and flamboyant defenders of former president donald trump. it was first reported last week in the "new york times" by york times" that matt gaetz is currently under federal criminal investigation for allegations of alleged sex trafficking of an underage girl. now, this is an investigation that started during the trump administration when bill barr was running the justice department. bill barr, as attorney general, was himself reportedly personally briefed on the matt gaetz investigation on multiple occasions. the federal investigation into congressman gaetz is reportedly examining, among other thi

we have a lot to worry about, it's coming right up. >> i was intrigued to read matt gaetz's op-ed in the washington examiner today, seemed almost trumpian, his defense. said his accusers were not telling truth but named all sources of forces rallies against him in washington. >> yeah. i mean gaetz really so far taking a trumpian playbook to the scandal that has unfolded in the past week, in that piece attacking the media, saying it was because he's stood up to the swamp as you were quoting earlier in the program. in many ways it's not surprising, a lot of people closest to the president when they've gotten in trouble have tried to behave like the president, use the tactics he successfully used. one of the biggest differences is when donald trump was president, because he was president, he had so many more powers to essentially obstruct investigations and protect himself. matt gaetz obviously does not have that as member of congress. he's tried very hard to create distractions from this story, and interestingly, listening for what you don't hear, there's not been a ground swell of supp

people like matt gaetz. people like maybe even roger stone who is on our screen right now, but joel greenberg has had an involvement with matt gaetz that has been corroborated through flights records, through things like venmo transactions. i mean, these are objective things and evidence that prosecutors can look at for purposes of being able to bring a case. and you know what's kind of outrageous, too, is the fact that matt gaetz remains on the house judiciary committee while all of this is going on, but unfortunately for somebody like matt gaetz, in the event he is indicted, his jury will not be women for america first who he spoke to yesterday in florida. >> just want to be clear here, nbc has not yet confirmed those venmo payments that katie just spoke of. so i want to be sure there's no miscommunication on that. let's talk about the legal strategy, it seems, that gaetz has taken. michael cohen of all people criticizing on my colleague's show last night the legal strategy that gaetz has taken. let's take

like matt gaetz paid for sex, matt gaetz! said stephen colbert! and reporters for "the new york times" have seen receipts to these women from cash app, and apple pay. how dumb is matt gaetz? ( as gaetz ) "dude, dude, no, don't leave a paper trail. use the cash app, that way it all goes up in the cloud! that way, when it rains evidence disappears! gaetz didn't keep his pervy behavior secret. allegedly, he showed his republican colleagues photos and videos of nude women he said he had slept with while on the house floor. remember: this is where he works. you know those mandatory sexual harassment trainings your office holds where the examples they give are all so outrageous, you're like "who is this possibly for?" it's for matt gaetz. gaetz also reportedly boasted of his "access to women." who says "access" to women? they're humans, not the united airlines premiere club. gaetz's reputation for creep goes all the way back to his days in the florida legislature, where he allegedly created a "game where members of the florida hous

a text that says, matt gaetz did nothing wrong. i have his back. other text says, sounds like a typical democrat political smear. projection of their activities on gaetz. pathetic. another text that says, blame the media, blame the investigators, blah, blah. gaetz is so wrong he is not fit for office and must resign. another text that says matt gaetz is the next victim of obama's doj witchhunt. gaetz should not step down. one last text that says, i am not sure what to make of the rumors. there are few facts and people willing to go on the record. i would like to know more but currently reliant information is scarce. let's go back to the phone lines and start with ella calling from corpus christi, texas on the democratic line. good morning. caller: good morning. host: go ahead. caller: i think it is really funny republicans are calling it asking about hunter biden. was in it if you want to go they were about the investigation like sex trafficking? here's a prime example. whether he is guilty or not they should be invested should they? shouldn't they

that new witness could be matt gaetz's friend, joel greenberg.currently faces 12 years in prison for charges of sex trafficking of a minor as well as stalking and bribery and defrauding the pandemic related paycheck protection program. during a procedural hearing today in the case against him blasted only six minutes, lawyers for greenberg and the federal government said they expect the case to resolve with a plea. here is what joel greenberg's attorney said outside the courthouse today in florida. >> does matt gaetz have anything to worry about? >> it comes from what happens today in court. >> does he have anything to worry about? >> well, from your mind? >> based on what your client does. >> i kept if i kept on talking and talking, i would avoid these questions and not to say -- i am sure matt gaetz is not feeling comfortable today. >> yes, it was a strange camera angle. joel greenberg did not say whether his clients provided information about matt gaetz to prosecutors. greenberg is unique any positioned to do that. the new york times reported

watch. >> does matt gaetz have anything to worry about? >> does matt gaetz -- that is such a -- >> when it comes to what happened today in court. >> does he have anything to

ironically, the reporting comes as trump and his allies are trying to put distance between trump and matt gaetz and that trump ignore anyone in his circumstancele is rushing to defend gaetz. gaetz appears to be fundraising off the controversy an email to supporters he accused the media of, quote, publishing lies to drag me down and trying to drag my dating life into their political attacks. on the pandemic front, the white house is now racing to get as many shots into arm as possible. we're now in the fourth straight week of rising infections as states continue to roll back restrictions on gathering and events. late today president biden announced he's bumping up his deadline by two weeks for states to make all adults in the united states eligible for vaccines. >> we're still in a life and death race against this virus. on march 11th, i announced that i was opening up all vaccination sites to all adults by may 1st. we're moving that date up from may 1st to april 19th nationwide, and every part of this country, every adult over the age of 18, 18 or older, will be eligible to be vaccinated. no mo

minor, and it was out of that sex trafficking investigation into a florida tax collector that the matt gaetz investigation we know about today was born. it was first reported by "the new york times" last week that congressman gaetz is currently under federal criminal investigation over whether he had sex with a 17-year-old girl and whether he paid her to travel with him across state lines. he is being investigated for potentially violating federal child sex trafficking laws and for potentially using campaign funds to facilitate that behavior. it was also first reported by cbs news last night that federal investigators are also examining a trip he allegedly took to the bahamas and whether women were illegally trafficked across state or international lines to have sex with congressman gaetz. matt gaetz is reportedly a close friend of joel greenberg's, and when investigators charged greenberg with violating child sex trafficking laws, they turned up information that led them to start investigating matt gaetz for similar conduct. "the new york times" has report had the sex trafficking count agai

from congressman matt gaetz's deepening problems. and president biden's executive actions on guns being followed by, yet another, mass shooting. matthew dodd is here. let's discuss with him. he is the former chief strategist for president george w. bush. matthew, thank you. good to see you. and, man, boy, we got a lot to talk about. so, you are in texas, where there has been another, horrific, mass shooting. just hours after president joe biden called gun violence an epidemic and an embarrassment. texas governor there, greg abbott, tweeting just-hours after biden's announcement today, calling it a liberal-power grab to take away our guns. he went straight for the knee-jerk, political reaction, didn't he? >> yeah. and -- and what makes it even crazier, don, is on the same day that happens, a tragedy, and again, more gun tragedy in texas. the house republicans and the committee passed voting restrictions, today. so, while, on one hand, we're sort of advocating ease of -- ease of access to guns. on the other hand, we're creating restric

i mean, it would be impossible to even draw a political cartoon about matt gaetz, because matt gaetz looks like a political cartoon. "i don't know. i guess i'll make his head look smaller? i mean, look at that thing based on that noggin, you'd expect his mouth to move like a "south park" character >> oh, hamburgers. [ light laughter ] >> seth: by the way, he'd be a good substitute if mr. met ever calls in sick. gaetz repeatedly claimed there was fraud even after admitting he didn't have any proof and that the trump campaign couldn't produce any proof. >> i think the justice department has a lot of egg on their face for having not discovered a lot of this fraud as it was occurring. david, as you know, this is very hard to find, prove and obtain relief on after the fact because so many of the ballots get co-mingled >> seth: so, according to gaetz, the fact that you can't prove there was fraud proves there was fraud. that's the same argument with your college roommate made to prove aliens built the pyramids. "if aliens are advanced to build pyramids, then they'd be advanced enough to ma

. >>> as matt gaetz clings to seat, how did the bar get set so low? >> get out and vote for roy moore. >>> plus mitch mcconnell's revision of new anticorporate stance. >> my advice is stay out of politics. >> i'm not talking about political contributions. >>> interview on the push to vaccinate the world and big announcement about vaccinations at home. >> no more confusing rules and restrictions. >> "all in" starts right now. >>> good evening from new york, i'm chris hayes. major league baseball all-star game has found a new home and republicans are very angry. mlb moving game from atlanta to denver in response to georgia republicans passing and signing into law new restrictive voter access law. republicans promptly responded with the extended performative whining that's become a central hallmark of modern conservative politics. >> do you believe major league baseball will live to regret this decision? >> yeah, i think they will. almost comical, people here and all over the country have figured this out, they're outraged and sick and tired of cancel co

listen to this. >> i'm sure matt gaetz is not feeling very comfortable today. >> and so far just one republican has called on gaetz to resign, but it's clear congressman gaetz has zero intensifying stepping aside. here he is yesterday speaking at that women's summit. >> i take the words of margaret thatcher to heart. if you want something said, get a man. if you want something done, hire a woman. cheese [ cheers and applause ] >> with me is the palm beach county state attorney, dave erinburg and politicize columnist from the bulwark. greenberg's attorney says he's likely to strike a deal and gaetz is probably feeling uncomfortable, i guess that makes sense. but what does that signal to you? >> jim, i've always thought that greenberg would strike a deal because he's facing up to life in prison for child sex trafficking over the same 17-year-old girl at issue in the matt gaetz investigation. plus, greenberg right now is sitting in a jail cell awaiting trial because he violated the terms of his pretrial release, so he has every incentive to flip on matt gaetz. it's a lifeline that gaetz

gaetz is in damage control made. matt has always been a fighter. he's going to fight back against the unfounded allegations against him. the pressure on gaetz, though, is growing. this entire investigation began somewhere, and it didn't begin, for example, going after matt gaetz. he earlier emphasized he saw himself as a subject, not a target. based on the available reporting, there is no reason to think it began with him as a quote target. there is no indication that the doj was simply out to get a member of congress. what we do know is that the investigation that was further along was dealing with his associate joel greenberg and we know he was indicted for sex trafficking and a host of other times. greenberg pled not guilty for stealing $400,000 in taxes and charges of bribing a small business administration employee. we also know he's expected to plead guilty in the coming weeks. that's the reporting you may have seen in the newspaper like "the new york times" as well as covered on "the beat" that there is signs he's pled guilty and he has a pla

there's new a lawsuit against matt gaetz, the person matt gaetz worships in word and in deed, donaldofficers have sued donald trump for sparking the january 6th attack in which the officer says he was slammed into a stone column while rioters hurled the n-word at him. one officer said he suffered injuries that required ongoing care. he lost count of how many times he was called the n-word. how much trouble might donald trump be in on that? he is now the target directly of a lawsuit about that insurrection. >> this reads like a straight-faced lawsuit. i found it very emotional, frankly, that the officers who are suing for both physical damage, injuries, and emotional damage, they said not only were they haunted because they were being physically attacked by the crowd, but they said they were haunted because they saw their fellow officers, literally arm's reach away, being attacked by the crowd and there was nothing they could do to protect them. when donald trump making public statements about, well, they were just hugging and kissing, when in fact they were hanging and killing, or at

running for office was to become twitter famous and to become famous on the right, madison hawthorne, matt gaetze're learning more and more about his behavior in tallahassee. politico, mark's outfit, reports that gaetz's own aides would regularly send embarrassing videos of their boss to other gop operatives, meaning they didn't even like the guy himself. i wonder why this model, if it's so unsuccessful at politics, at mark just said, they don't accomplish much for their constituents, why does this seem to work so well in the gop? >> well, look, politics has changed, and you could make a case that congress is not as serious as an institution that it once was. evidence being matt gaetz's election and his continuance in service in the body and i think the story around coming out of the florida legislature, the story about his aides in congress right now just reflect that matt gaetz really is a man on an island, whether he runs for re-election or not, the intriguing thing is you do have candidates beginning to swirl. republican candidates beginning to swirl in the panhandle of florida, assuming tha

peter, matt gaetz clearly is taking a page out of the donald trump crisis playbook. maybe ignoring the fact that using the playbook cost trump his job. but give us the big picture. what is the gaetz strategy, and how does or does not trump play into it? >> well, of course, congressman gaetz wants to make this all about trump and the anti-trump fervor. trying to associate himself with the trump base, of whom he's been a leading champion in the last four years. saying it's all political, all the same kind of persecution that they went after the president that the supporters all admire. the problem is, he's not actually been embraced by many of the figures in trump's world. trump himself has only issued a two-sentence statement saying, no, he didn't directly ask me for a blanket pardon. he didn't say he believed him or that he's being unfairly treated. he didn't come to congressman gaetz's defense in any way. you see the congressman trying to put himself in that position as yet another victim, that people are out to get him like the trump view. >> and for everybody who h

there are major developments in the scandal surrounding florida congressman matt gaetz. the trump administration, gaetz sought blanket preemptive pardons for himself and his congressional allies. gaetz is a staunch trump supporter, but the times says the request was viewed by trump advisers as a nonstarter and never granted. the timing is interesting. but it is not clear if gaetz knew at the time he was being investigated by the feds for alleged sex trafficking and prostitution crimes. >> the pace of vaccination brisk. but president biden is urging americans not to let their guard down against coronavirus saying we're not yet at the finish line. another 60,000 cases reported overnight. variants spreading fast in five states that account for half the new cases in the u.s. there's also troubling information about the lasting side effects on the brain of some covid survivors. >> but we begin with the matt gaetz investigation. joining us now, john harwood and congressional correspondent lauren fox. great to see both of you. john harwood, "the new york times" reports about the

it's not a family brand from matt gaetz's point. >> reporter: matt gaetz grew up in this house, used the movie "the truman show." >> in the mid '90s, one day some producer just shows up in a golf cart and tells my mother they want to make a movie in this house starring jim carrey. >> reporter: his mother is partially paralyzed after suffering complications while pregnant with his sister and opted not to terminate the pregnancy. the congressman said that's contributed to his anti-abortion stance. last year, the congressman announced he has a secret known biological 19-year-old son that he's been parents for years. >> i just couldn't be happier and prouder of the young man he's become. >> reporter: and, again, the fbi is investigating a potential extortion crime, but that is not specifically related to the other investigation and two sources tell cnn there is a separate federal probe looking into whether gaetz had a relationship with a minor, whether his involvement with other minors broke sex trafficking laws, prostitution laws. and gaetz's lawyer declined comment for this story and g

we're going to bring you all of them but first, we thought it would be worth reminding you who matt gaetz was before he was under investigation. this guy is really something gaetz is the son of senate president don gaetz whose connections and deep pockets helped him get elected to the florida house and eventually to the united states congress in 2008, matt gaetz was arrested on the suspicion of drunk driving while driving his dad's b bmw. he was known as a entitled they're thee we will he mocked food stamp recipients and facing accusations of racism for questioning the intelligence two of black lawmakers then he came to washington and quickly became known as one of donald trump's staunchest defenders with gaetz gleefully trolling the critics and defending trump's comments including on this very show after he denigrated the entire country of haiti gaetz brought a holocaust denier to the state of the union, suggested that george soros was paying kids to storm the border and hired an aide tide to white nationalist ties a child shot in the park land school shooting called him a lighter for ty

matt gaetz has never paid for sex. matt gaetz refutes all of the disgusting allegations completely.y such websites whatever. allegedly there are websites where you can pay women to go on dates with you. matt gaetz cherishes the relationships in his past and looks forward to marrying the love of his life. that's -- i believe he's engaged. one of the things i've heard in congress is, well, you know what, if this gets bad, it might go to the ethics committee. no, if this goes barksdd, he's looking at what? >> the ethics committee is the least of his worries. child sex trafficking, trafficking a person under the age of 18 across a state line for sexual purposes has a ten-year mandatory minimum. i.d. theft, which is another allegation. that he was involved with this guy greenburg and using people's driver's licenses and personal identifying information. that's a two-year mandatory minimum. deadly serious penalties. another important point here. matt gaetz will not have the ability to claim this was a politically motivated witch hunt because important detail. this investigation started du

>> discuss matt gaetz -- that is such a -- does he have anything to worry about? asking me to get into the mind of that case? >> reporter: from your mind? >> from my mind? >> based on what your client has. >> based on what my client has? i thought if i kept on talking, i could avoid this question. i have to say i'm sure matt gaetz is not feeling very comfortable. >> yes, it was a strange camera angle for a very strange sounding lawyer. joel greenberg's lawyer did not say whether his client provided information about matt gaetz to federal prosecutors. he said joel greenberg is uniquely positioned, that was his phrase, to do that the "new york times" says they have known him since 2017 when he began serving in congress could provide prosecutors with a witness who has a deep knowledge of mr. gaetz' dealing and how they paid women and bought and used drugs like ecstasy. congressman gaetz has denied that he violated any laws. joining us now is andrew weissman, former general counsel and member of the mueller investigation. he is now an msnbc analyst. andrew, you are re

that is pretty bad news for matt gaetz. the way we are told from sources and the way joel greenberg's lawyer describes it, joel greenberg has potentially pivotal information that could help investigators in the matt gaetz investigation. as i mentioned they both allegedly shared this same girl for sex which would be illegal. we understand from talking to people in this world and other officials that investigators are exploring allegations joel greenberg was the guy that procured women for gaetz. greenberg has credibility issues. one of the things that first got him on the radar was fabricating evidence against another politician. he is not the person you want as a cooperator or witness because jurors, if it came to that, would not very likely believe him. but he could point investigators in the areas they may be didn't think they go or evidence they didn't know existed. his cooperation certainly ups the ante for gaetz but we will see if he pleads guilty, he is still just a negotiations, b, how much he cooperates and c, how h

>> a new development in the doj sex crime probe involving republican congressman and trump ally matt gaetz. his ex-girlfriend is now worried, a key witness tried to get her to incriminate gaetz on a call. the timing is striking, the alleged call soon after gaetz's associate was indicted. they believe it to be a sex trafficking victim, who would want to record gaetz and others may be cooperating with a probe which has featured indictment, intense pressure, and the feds seizing a congressman's phone. he denies all wrongdoing and says he is still at work. >> congressman matt gaetz. i want to thank you for the support and love you've shown me over the last couple of weeks. rest assured, we're still working hard for northwest florida, our state and our country. >> i am joined by mark caputo, senior reporter for politico, well known for his knowledge of florida politics. he broke the story about the taped call and what it could implicate. also joined by civil rights attorney, has extensive experience in these related types of cases. welcome to you both. mark, what did you find? >> we found i thi