https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/02/matt-gaetz-just-threatened-michael-cohen-on-twitter-witness-tampering/?fbclid=IwAR0u4bWtwAGd9kv0mv7T7Gk5yw18RGFxab2Odqa9hDJjXn8nENgdzruyzM0
"Within minutes, Walter Shaub, the former director of the Office of Government Ethics, tweeted out the part of the federal criminal code that could apply: See 18 U.S.C. §§ 1512(b), 1515(a)(1)(B). It notes, “Whoever knowingly uses intimidation, threatens, or corruptly persuades another person, or attempts to do so, or engages in misleading conduct toward another person, with intent to…influence, delay, or prevent the testimony of any person in an official proceeding…shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both.” The code’s definition of an “official proceeding” includes congressional proceedings. Gaetz has been one of the most vocal Trump backers in the House, scheming with other Republican legislators to undermine the Trump-Russia investigation by promoting false conspiracy theories about the deep state. But this move goes beyond the deployment of diversionary distraction. It’s a heavy-handed and brazen attempt to intimidate a witness poised to provide explosive testimony about President Donald Trump. And it’s possible it’s a crime—which makes it a very Trumpy way of dealing with the president’s Cohen problem."
