Defiant Matt Gaetz breaks media silence

Embattled U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz returned to national radio Monday for the first time in a while.

Gaetz, appearing on the America First program with Sebastian Gorka, was conducting his first interview in a while, as reports of a wide-ranging federal investigation into the Congressman continue to percolate, albeit without formal charges.

Gaetz continued Monday, as he has since the story broke, maintaining his innocence and suggesting that a larger conspiracy is unfolding.

Gorka said Gaetz was targeted “because he was effective” in his role as a conservative commentator, and Gaetz concurred.

“The things the media has said about me are lies and the truth will prevail,” the Congressman asserted.

Gaetz added “there is a desire in big government, big media, big tech, to target, deplatform, and destroy those who champion the America First cause.”

“That’s not just me saying it,” Gaetz continued. “Thank goodness for Project Veritas. In the middle of CNN trying to propagandize my life, a CNN director was actually recorded by a secret camera saying the very reason that CNN is repeating these things about me over and over again is that I actually get in the way of the Democratic agenda. I am effective in advocating the beliefs that are held by tens of millions of Americans who are patriotic and love our country and don’t think we should surrender to Washington, D.C.’s, control of every decision we make in our lives.”

Gaetz’s political committee released weeks ago an ad using the Project Veritas footage.

The Congressman then said he was “grateful for the opportunity to be on platforms” like Gorka’s radio show, the Salem Radio Network that syndicates it, and the “Tucker Carlson” program, which hasn’t hosted him for weeks since what the host called “one of the weirdest interviews” he had ever conducted.

That appearance, in the wake of revelations of the Gaetz scandal, was notable for Gaetz contending that Carlson and his wife had had dinner with Gaetz and one of his dates, with the date allegedly telling Carlson she was “threatened by the FBI.” Carlson disclaimed any recollection of what Gaetz described.

Gaetz also addressed the alleged extortion attempt on him in the Gorka interview, saying that his team is “working to bring (his) extorters to justice.”

“One person who tried to extort me is a former Department of Justice official, the other one was getting paid by the State Department as recently as 2019. It remains somewhat of a mystery why these people with such close ties to the government were embroidering lies and leaks together to try to get my family to pay $25 million,” Gaetz said.

Come what may, Gaetz is “taking the show on the road.” He begins a tour with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, with the first engagement set for the Villages on Friday.