November 14th 2019

By Dan Desai Martin

American Independent

Rep. Matt Gaetz’s (R-FL) Nov. 5 op-ed in the Tuscaloosa News did not sit well with everyone. Retired Army Col. Johnnie R. Prichard described the Florida Republican’s opinion as “just a bunch of bull about himself,” in a Nov. 11 letter to the editor of the same newspaper.

Prichard began his letter by thanking veterans for their service to the country — and then went on to repeatedly slam Gaetz for being full of himself and using bad judgment.

“If you did not read it, you did not miss anything,” Prichard says about Gaetz’s op-ed. Gaetz “only likes the media that agrees with him on every issue and supports him,” the retired colonel wrote, criticizing Gaetz because “we also know that freedom of the press is a cornerstone of our democracy.”

Prichard was unimpressed with Gaetz’s opinions about the ongoing House impeachment inquiry. Congress is looking into Trump’s alleged attempts to withhold military aid from Ukraine in order to pressure that country to investigate both former Vice President Joe Biden, a potential 2020 political rival for Trump, and a debunked right-wing conspiracy about the Democratic National Committee servers.

In the op-ed, Gaetz attacked the bipartisan closed-door hearings where three congressional committees interviewed witnesses to Trump’s behavior as “the Pelosi/Schiff Kangaroo Court.” Even though Republicans are in the room for these hearings, Gaetz refers to them as “secret depositions in the basement of the Capitol.”

Far from being secret, the date, time, and location of each hearing was announced to the media. In the days since Gaetz wrote his op-ed, transcripts of several of the hearings have been released for anyone to read.

Gaetz also bragged about barging into the secure hearing room and disrupting the investigation because he “will not sit powerless while the Deep State, the Fake News media, or the Democratic Socialists in Congress try to undermine and overturn the 2016 election.” Gaetz also attacked the media waiting outside the hearing rooms as the “anti-Trump press.”

Gaetz framed the reckless interruption as a defense of transparency, but security experts called out Gaetz and the group of Republican congressman who joined him for threatening national security by bringing prohibited cell phones into the secure location.

The stunt did not impress Prichard, who referred to the op-ed as “just another case in which Matt Gaetz used bad judgment.” Prichard also criticized Gaetz for sending a threatening tweet to Michael Cohen, Trump’s attorney and “fixer,” before Cohen testified before Congress about Trump’s criminal activities.

“Throughout the article he bragged what a leader and fighter he was,” Prichard wrote. “The US military could use people like this. I would have to warn the Congressman that fighting with the yoyos in Washington D.C. is a little different than fighting in the military. We use live ammo in our fights.”

Since it was Veterans Day, Prichard offered an invitation to Gaetz.

“So, if you have enough sand in your gizzard, come on in,” the retired Army officer wrote. “We would be glad to fit you with a uniform and issue you a weapon with lots of live ammunition.”

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