By Steve Neavling
Rep. Matt Gaetz, who is being investigated by the FBI over sex trafficking allegations, suggested in a tweet Wednesday that the bureau should be defunded.
The Florida Republican then deleted the tweet a minute later.
“If Democrats want to defund the police, they should start with the FBI,” Gaetz wrote.
The tweet was preserved by ProPublica’s Politwoops.
A Gaetz spokesman told Vice that the congressman “felt it appropriate to remove a jocular tweet taken from a speech some time ago.”
The FBI is investigating whether Gaetz paid for sex with a 17-year-old girl and violated federal sex trafficking laws.
Gaetz also criticized the FBI last week, baselessly claiming that “FBI operatives organized and participated in the January 6th Capitol riot.”
