pjmedia.com Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) has claimed that the sexual misconduct allegations made against him were part of an extortion scheme, and Bob Kent, one of the men allegedly involved in the scheme, all but confirmedĀ in an interview on āThe Michael Smerconish Programā on SiriusXM radio on Monday that he had asked Gaetzās father for $25 millionābut insists it was not extortion.
āMatt Gaetz is in need of good publicity, and Iām in need of $25 million to rescue Robert Levinson,ā Kent said on the show, and acknowledged that he asked Gaetzās father for the money.
āAt first he started laughing and he said, āYou know we get these extortion attempts all the time,ā And I said whoa, stop. This is not an extortion attempt. Iām not trying to extort him, Iām not, you know, thatās not what weāre doing here.ā
But according toĀ a reportĀ from theĀ Washington Examiner, Gaetz, āpossesses text message screenshots, an email, and a typed document that purportedly support his claims that a federal investigation into his relationship with a 17-year-old is related to an extortion scheme against him.ā According to screenshots provided to the Washington Examiner, Rep. Gaetzās father, Don Gaetz, a former Florida state Senate president, received a text message from Kent on March 16 proposing āa plan that can make [Matt Gaetzās] future legal and political problems go away.ā
Gaetz has denied any wrongdoing.
