Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and CNN host Abby Phillip had a heated exchange on Thursday regarding the House Republican impeachment attempt against President Joe Biden and the arrest of one of their sources for making false statements.
Phillip questioned Gaetz about the arrest of impeachment inquiry source Alexander Smirnov, who allegedly made false statements to the FBI regarding payments from Burisma to President Biden and his son Hunter Biden.
Following this, Phillip presented a compilation of Gaetz’s colleagues referring to Smirnov as “highly credible.”
“A few of those characterizations might have been a little, a little over sauced, but I do think that the bribery can also go to a family member.” Gaetz said after being asked to weigh in on his colleagues remarks.
“If you want to bribe a 75-year-old man, you pay their kids.” Gaetz continued.
“Here’s the thing. You just acknowledged there’s actually no evidence of bribery,” Phillip said in response.
“I did not acknowledge that.” Gaetz then said.
“Here’s what you said, Congressman. This was in October at a private fundraiser. You said, ‘I don’t believe that we are endeavoring upon a legitimate impeachment of Joe Biden… They’re trying to engage in a forever war of impeachment, and like so many of our forever wars, it will drag on forever and end in a bloody draw.’ Honestly, it seems like maybe you were right the first time.” Phillip rebutted.
“Given that, according to Jim Jordan, this was the most corroborating piece of evidence that they had, should they drop this impeachment?” the host asked Gaetz.
“I disagree with Jordan that this is what’s most corroborating. I think what’s most corroborating are the payments to Hunter Biden and Frank Biden and James Biden. I was deposing James Biden and the way that they took money from the Chinese government would make your skin crawl. Now, that’s admittedly James Biden, not Joe Biden, but I do believe when these foreign governments are loading up the entire Biden family apparatus with cash, they’re not doing so to extract some sort of skill or service from these ne’er-do-well Bidens, they doing it to influence Joe Biden.” Gaetz replied.
“Everything that you’ve described is an inference. You actually haven’t given any proof of what you’re alleging.” Phillip tried to argue back.
“But Abby, why do you think Burisma was paying Hunter Biden? Do you think they were paying him to figure out where to go buy crack in LA? I mean, they were paying him because he had access to Joe.” Gaetz concluded mockingly.
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