As former President Donald Trump fights the charges laid against him by Special Counsel Jack Smith, which House Republicans have decried as election interference, Representative Matt Gaetz (R-FL) spoke with conservative activist Charlie Kirk, proposing he testify before Congress as a whistleblower, which would provide immunity from at least several of his charges.
"Congressman @mattgaetz has a BOLD plan he believes could immunize Donald Trump from Jack Smith's politically weaponized crusade: Bring Trump in to testify before the House as a whistleblower, thereby triggering certain preexisting immunity protections. Will it work? No idea. But we must reject the premise that the DOJ's political persecution of Donald Trump is somehow legitimate. All options should be on the table," tweeted Kirk.
Congressman @mattgaetz has a BOLD plan he believes could immunize Donald Trump from Jack Smith's politically weaponized crusade: Bring Trump in to testify before the House as a whistleblower, thereby triggering certain preexisting immunity protections.
Will it work? No idea.… pic.twitter.com/DvgTerduE8
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) August 8, 2023
Rep. Gaetz began by blasting Congressional Republicans who think "this is an ongoing matter" and thus cannot interfere. He derided this as "the same loser mentality" which permeated through Republicans across the Russian collusion investigation.
Additionally, Rep. Gaetz proposed Smith must appear before the House Judiciary Committee within 15 days. If he fails to appear, he should be subpoenaed, and if he ignores that too, Gaetz said Smith should be held in criminal contempt of Congress.
"And if [Attorney General] Merrick Garland will not enforce that criminal contempt, then he subjects himself to an impeachment of the House," Gaetz added, saying that allowing the case to continue only gives it legitimacy as criminal prosecution rather than election interference.
From here, Gaetz said while the testimony from Smith occurred, Trump could come in and testify as a whistleblower, which would grant him immunities and protections. Gaetz explained that a committee often requires a supermajority vote to grant a whistleblower immunity, suggesting Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) could set up a select committee "tomorrow" for this purpose.
The problem, however, is that Congress is not in session. "And I think the timing is on purpose, no timing in [Washington] DC is ever just a coincidence. And so right as Congress is leaving town, right as we are walking away from our equities, you see this acceleration of activity against Trump," Gaetz continued, echoing Representative Cory Mills' (R-FL) remark on new indictments for Trump as more information into the Biden family's alleged influence-peddling continues to be uncovered.
Moreover, if Trump were to say something inaccurate, he could face additional charges.
"So it is never something that you typically think of as a first step to try to bring people into Congress to give testimony because it is typically something people enjoy a great deal. But in this case, I think we misunderstand the fight that we are in," Gaetz concluded.
