Matt. He could stand to have a few more persuasive allies. People like john ratcliffe. People who can actually make the case but threatening a witness and i will leave the accurately to others threatening a witness like that in a tweet you are not helping the person you are trying to help. You actually look guilty as hell when you do things like that. Im glad he took it down but he never should have put it up. Martha strong words from trey gowdy and congressman gaetz. First correspondent mike emanuel with the back story tonight. Mike . Martha, geengetion, first controversial tweet and then congressman matt gaetz continued his attack on the house floor. I guess tomorrow we will find out if there is anyone that Michael Cohen doesnt lie to. Does he lie to his own family . Does he lie to his financiers who are members of his family . The congressman did not stop there. The attack continued in an interview with fox. We have got to find out who Michael Cohen lies to and if there is anyone Michael Cohen tells the truth. To say he lied to the irs. He lied to three different banks. He lied to congress and now he is going to jail for lying. My objective is to figure whether or not he lied to the people closest to him and i think that says a lot about his veracity and character. Hours later nancy pelosi fired a warning shot on twitter warning i encourage all members to be mindful comments made on social media or in the press can adversely effect the ability of house committees to obtain the truthful and complete information necessary to fulfill their duties. Then late night gates apologized, speaker i want to get to the truth, too. While it is important to create context around the testimony of liars like Michael Cohen, it was not my intent to threaten as some believe i did. Im deleting the tweet and i should have chosen words that better show my intent. Im sorry. Gates face bipartisan criticism from fellow lawmakers. Its wrong and i think its disgusting. Im glad he apologized. You know, in addition to just being appalled, at what looks like a blatant effort to intimidate this witness. Despite the apology the very public attack could lead to more headaches for congressman gaetz. Martha . Mike, thank you very much. So joining me now exclusively to answer some of these questions is congressman matt gaetz. Congressman, thank you for being here tonight to face some of this criticism we thank you for coming. In so lets start county tweet itself. What was your motivation . What did you hope to accomplish by tweeting that about Michael Cohen and girlfriends and his wife and his fatherinlaw . Well, i think the clips you have showed from my statements on the floor and other interviews reflected the context but that doesnt excuse what i did that was wrong and thats invoking someones family. I want to say publicly what i have said privately to Michael Cohen and to his family that im sorry. If it is entirely appropriate to test the truthfulness of a witness but that could have been done in a way that didnt invoke someones family and i shouldnt have done it. What information did you have that caused you to write that tweet . Do you know something about him that other people obviously, he has had his credibility issues. There is no doubt about it. Why the girlfriend . Did you was that your idea or, you know, some people have even suggested that President Trump wanted to write all that stuff. Yeah, i mean, to get into all of that would be to continue to reference someones family and im not going to go there, martha. But you are right. That isaac of the atlantic reported i was on the phone outside the long worth Office Building talking to President Trump and someone did at that time overhear me say the words i was happy to do it for you. And you just keep killing it. The problem, martha is, i wasnt talking to donald trump. At 8 37 p. M. I got a phone call from Florida Governor ron desantis. We spoke for 13 minutes. He was calling to thank me not about Michael Cohen or pay off porn stars but because i had made a recommendation for him for someone to serve on the Orlando Airport board, a friend named orlando hunt. And Governor Desantis said well, i appreciate you doing that for me, hey, governor, i was happy to do that for you. You keep killing it whats crazy is even though Governor Desantis told the atlantic that he and i were on the phone that we had that discussion. They still havent issued a retraction or taken down their allegation and it continues to be repeated across the mainstream media. In the washington examiner, in the miami herald and, so, look, i made a mistake. Should not have invoked someones family. Im here to take responsibility and to say im sorry. When the media goes after President Trump, when they tell lies about me when he had repeat the lies that Jussie Smollett showed it really enrages a lot of the forgotten men and women in this country who are tired of the medias all out attacks i hope isaac in the atlantic will retract something that Governor Desantis was already told them was false. Martha have you proof that that phone call at that time was between you and Governor Desantis of florida. We would expect there should be he a rooction traction and we will see if you get it at any time did the president ever encourage you that he was out of the country and obviously the white house has said that they were very unhappy that that hearing happened . Simultaneously about the north korea meeting . Did i ever encourage to you mix it up a little bit on the Michael Cohen issue or to show up at the oversight hearing when you also tried to do . Absolutely not. I spoke to the president before he left for hanoi. We talked about completely unrelated matters and i never spoke to the president when he was in vietnam or the way back. Im not going to get in the business about talking to the media every time i chat with my friend the president or every time we discuss advice or an issue before the country, but i certainly could tell you that there is false reporting about me, there is no proof we live in a world now, martha, the media could report something that i was on the phone with the president. They can have no source, no witness, no identifiable person and in the echo chamber of the media they continue to report it despite the fact it is a lie. It did not happen. And we ought to have better journalistic integrity than that. Lets talk about the investigations because i know you took down out tweet. You apologized for it you spoke to Michael Cohen about it, correct . I did. What was that conversation like . Look, i felt that in addition to apologizing publicly for invoking Michael Cohens family that i needed to apologize to him personally. I reached out to him. I told him i was sorry. He sent back a very gracious message to me. And i am grateful that he accepted my apology in the spirit that it was intended. And a raucous political discourse and investigations we can disagree about substance. We can look for ways to expose inconsistent statements but we can do that without invoking family. Look, martha, the reason your network has me on a lot is because im one of the leading voices defending the president. This was an error on my part. My errors are not errors of omission. They are errors of commission. I do a little too much. And fight too hard. This time i crossed the line. I hope its a better sign of valor im willing to admit that. Martha you know, i think everybody can appreciate that. And i think its right that you reached out to Michael Cohen. Doesnt matter what i think about it. I think, you know, most people would say thats the right thing to do. What about the Florida Bar Association . They say that if the rules were violated because, obviously, you are well aware of the rules of witness intimidation and how it works in the law they say they will inif you tried threaten a witness. I have not heard from the florida bar if i do i will respond. Its a real problem for state bar associations to be secondguessing the legislative conduct of members of congress. When Kamala Harris was saying terrible things about Brett Kavanaugh both inside and outside the halls of congress, like, should the California Bar investigate her for conduct that brings disfavor or puts the profession of the practice of law in a bad light . They didnt do that they shouldnt do that and, so, look, i will deal with the florida bar if they send me a innovation. But, like just the fact that they are responding to allegations against me doesnt mean that there is any violation of the rules. Any person makes any allegation they are obligated to look into it. The House Ethics Committee is also considering looking into it as well. We appreciate you coming here and answering the questions here tonight, congressman gaetz. The House Ethics Committee has a bad record of going after the president s defenders. They open up an investigation into devin nunes. That turned out to be bogus investigation. They opened up an investigation into mark meadows that turned out to be something that wasnt his fault it seems as though the people who defend the president most vigorously do spend their time in the barrel of the ethics committee. I guess its my turn. Thank you very much. Congressman gaetz, good to see you tonight. Thank you, martha. Martha thank you, sir. Come up, breaking news on the defamation suit filed by the family of the Covington High School student against the huffington post. Stick around. That is next. 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Martha fox news alert tonight the Washington Post, the outlet at the center of a defamation lawsuit that was filed by the family of Nicholas Sandmann that just young posted what is called an editors note in response to their coverage of that story. David spunt has the breaking details tonight from washington. David . Hey, martha, good evening the post has dropped this news within the last hour certainly starting to make the headlines here in washington and around the country. This was a big deal when it happened here in january. Nick sandmann a Kentucky High School catholic High School Student turns out he was taunted by a group called the black 1r5er89s. Israelites. He was vilified in the media for allegedly taunting a native american man you can see right there. The Washington Post reported extensively on this. Sandmans attorney announced they would actually sue the post for defamation for 250 million. But as you say the Washington Post, they have issued this editors note. They say, quote subsequent reporting, a student statement and additional video allow for a more complete assessment of what occurred either contradicting or failing to confirm accounts provided in that story. Now, we do know that the the Washington Post says including that native american activist Nathan Phillips was prevented by one student from moving on and that his group has been taunted by the students in the leadup to the encounter and that the students were trying to investigate a conflict. Now, that is coming from the Washington Post tonight. A rare editors note from them. We also have a response, martha, from sandmans attorney who says, quote too little, too late. The Washington Post doing this tonight. Well continue to follow this story, martha. Martha the lawyers are working overtime on this friday night trying to navigate that situation which is not going away any time soon it appears for the Washington Post. David, thank you very much. You bet. Martha coming up next tonight Speaker Pelosi with this very strong message for the president. Do the country a favor, dont run. Martha the debate over whether that is appropriate from the speaker of the house, next. Last years ad campaign was a success for choicehotels. Com badda book. Badda boom. This year, were taking it up a notch. So in this commercial we see two travelers at a comfort inn with a glow around them, so people watching will be like, wow, maybe ill glow too if i book direct at choicehotels. Com. Who glows . Just say, badda book. Badda boom. Nobody glows. He gets it. Always the lowest price, guaranteed. Book now at choicehotels. Com martha women who are democrats in the house of representatives getting the rock star treatment in a neurology stone interview including nancy pelosi, alexandria ocasiocortez, and others who have this message for President Trump. If i were talking to President Trump, i would remind him that you are my president as well. The people of the United States are looking for a leader that unites. If i had to Say Something to trump, i probably wouldnt say anything because i dont think that its worth the extra attention. Mr. President , do the country a favor, dont run. Martha here now Kayleigh Mcenany the national for 2020 campaign and richie for the house democrats, great people to have with us tonight. So, kayleigh, nannies is just scolding the president. She says do us all a favor do not run. Is there any chance of that happening . No. There is zero chance of that happening. I can tell you the president is excited for this campaign. Is he geared up. He is ready and im sure nancy pelosi does not want him to run because how can you argue against results, a soaring economy and wages growing at the fastest pace in 10 years. You cant argue against success. Thats a pretty prosecute pathetic message from nancy pelosi. She should spend less time palling around with a socialist and congresswoman with antisemitic remarks and more time working with the president. Martha michelle, is there anything thats inappropriate anymore these days . Is that a professional comment to say about the president of the United States . You know, just do everyone a favor and dont run . Well, look, i think she was very very sarcastic and this is something we are starting to see in our politics. Of the president is not innocent in some of the remarks that he has made about those on the left either. But what i will say about pelosi is that maybe she is thinking about the president shouldnt run considering that he is imploded the deficit. Its risen by 40 . He used the paychecks of our federal workers as a hostage because he didnt get his wall. So, yes, he has had some accomplishments but at the same time, he has had a lot of failures. I mean, he cuts millions of people off of healthcare alone for prescription drugs were supposed to go down under this president. That hasnt happened, instead he has given tax cuts to pharmaceutical companies. Man thats the reason she is saying he shouldnt run. Look what is happening with his base which isnt support him that much either, kayleigh. That is just incredibly untruthful all that you said. Its not . Not true . Cleaned up disaster under obamacare. Under this obama. Bying that he 50 million off of healthcare. Let me finish i let you finish and share your litany of falls hoods. So for the. Martha rochelle, let her finish we let you say everything you wanted to say. Exactly. He has expanded choice in the healthcare market. No doubt about that. Talk about his base . 93 support for this president far are higher than the support obama had. So you can you are entitled