Former White House ethics lawyer Richard Painter is calling for the immediate arrest of Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), accusing him of witness tampering hours after the lawmaker issued a thinly veiled threat against Michael Cohen. Cohen, the former longtime personal attorney to President Donald Trump, is scheduled to testify before Congress on Wednesday. He reportedly plans to directly accuse Trump of criminal conduct prior to the 2016 presidential election. Gaetz fired off a tweet on the eve of that testimony that many slammed as an attempt to intimidate a witness:

Twitter

Gaetz later deleted the tweet, saying he did not intend to threaten the witness. “I should have chosen words that better showed my intent,” Gaetz wrote. “I’m sorry.” But Painter wasn’t impressed by the apology:

BS @mattgaetz

You threatened a witness.

That’s a crime.

You should resign from Congress and face charges. https://t.co/gBhgyiT1vP — Richard W. Painter (@RWPUSA) February 27, 2019

Before Gaetz deleted the tweet, Painter also called for the congressman’s arrest. “Witness intimidation is a federal crime,” tweeted Painter, who was chief ethics attorney under President George W. Bush. “Lock him up.” He wasn’t just offering a play on a longtime Trump rallying cry. In a subsequent tweet, Painter made it clear that Gaetz should be locked up immediately:

Witness tampering. Witness intimidation.@mattgaetz should be arrested tonight and steps taken to protect the witness. https://t.co/54lQP5eh8P — Richard W. Painter (@RWPUSA) February 27, 2019

Walter Shaub, the former director of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics under President Barack Obama and for six months under Trump, also accused Gaetz of witness intimidation and cited the relevant statutes

A tweet in which a sitting member of Congress tries his hand at witness intimidation: https://t.co/tSdtKvgDjb — Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) February 26, 2019

See 18 U.S.C. §§ 1512(b), 1515(a)(1)(B). — Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) February 26, 2019

Shaub also warned Gaetz that his apparent defense that he was just “witness testing” as a member of Congress may not hold up:

"Conversely, actions that have not been viewed as “integral” to the legislative process and, therefore, have not been interpreted to be protected legislative acts include:

- speaking outside of Congress;

- writing newsletters and issuing press releases...https://t.co/an5i4KkpOm — Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) February 26, 2019