>300 #House lawmakers were reimbursed ≥$5.2M for #food & #lodging while on official business in Washington last year under a new, #TaxpayerFunded prgm that doesn’t require receipts.
The prgm, which kicked off last yr after a #Republican-led House panel passed it, was intended to make it easier for lawmakers to maintain separate homes in DC & their home districts.
#Republican#MattGaetz, the prgm’s overall top spender, was reimbursed for nearly $30k in lodging #expenses & >$10k for food in 2023. He was reimbursed >$4k for lodging in 2 different months & >$3k in 5 different months.
A spox for #Gaetz said he was reimbursed for expenses when the #House was out of session but he was in DC on ofcl business related to his post on the select cmte on #weaponization of the federal govt.…
Other members of the cmte expensed SIGNIFICANTLY less than Gaetz.
Worth emphasizing this, because most news outlets did not:
“Rep. Matt #Gaetz (R-Fla.) on Thursday ominously invoked Donald #Trump’s call to far-right violent extremists while joining the former president at his criminal trial in New York.
“Standing back and standing by, Mr. President,” Gaetz wrote on social media, along with a photo of himself positioned behind Trump at his trial.”
"Matt #Gaetz reiterated #Trump’s call upon the Proud Boys, a right-wing hate group that played a central role on the attack on the Capitol and effort to overturn the last election, to “stand back and stand by.” Anyone else see a brownshirt peeking underneath?
Cross-examination of #MichaelCohen resumes, an opportunity for the defense to poke holes in his testimony & perhaps trip up or provoke the state’s key witness. The questioning of Cohen, #Trump’s fmr fixer, is the beginning of the end of Trump’s #criminal trial, which began April 15 & might conclude before Memorial Day weekend at this pace.
“We are here of our own volition [ok], because there are things we can say that President Trump is unjustly not allowed to say,” #Gaetz said outside the courthouse.
A 71st House Republican has signed on to co-sponsor Rep. Matt #Gaetz's resolution to formally express sentiment of U.S. House that Donald #Trump did not engage in insurrection: Del. James Moylan (R-Guam)