On Monday, Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz (FL) used shelled-out hefty political donations and past tweets published by Democratic counsel Daniel Goldman to showcase the lawyer’s partisanship, which was vehemently denied by Mr. Goldman.
As reported by The Hill, Rep. Gaetz asked Goldman, “Are you here as a partisan advocate for the Democratic position, or are you here as a nonpartisan investigator of the facts?”
Goldman suggested he was impartial and merely relying on facts and evidence. “I’m here to present the report we did on our investigation, which was totally and completely relied on the actual evidence we uncovered, the witness testimony and the documents,” he contended.
“Are you a partisan?” Gaetz asked pointblank.
“I am not a partisan,” Goldman answered.
The Republican then moved on to political donations.
Republican counsel Stephen R. Castor told the Florida representative that he “can’t remember” making any political donations.
Mr. Goldman, however, admitted to giving mass political donations to Democrats, though he suggested this was not evidence of a partisan bend.
“I do, sir,” Goldman admitted of the political donations.
“You’ve given tens of thousand of dollars to Democrats,” Gaetz told him.
Goldman defended himself, telling Gaetz that he believes it is “very important to support candidates for office.”
“When Gaetz then asked Goldman if he thought donating more money than he did would have allowed him to ‘ask questions and answer them’ like Judiciary Committee Democratic counsel Barry Berke did, Goldman was silent,” The Hill noted.
Gaetz then moved to Mr. Goldman’s social media.
“Have you ever tweeted at President Donald Trump?” the Republican asked told Castor and Goldman. Mr. Castor said he had not, but Goldman apparently had.
Gaetz shared a tweet published by Goldman, which was directed at President Trump, suggesting the dubious, rumor-filled “Steele Dossier” was completely fact, including the widely-debunked Trump “pee tape.”
“What lying?” Goldman tweeted at Trump in August 2018. “Nothing in the dossier has proved to be false (including your pee tape). But we can agree that we all look forward to the facts coming out. Everything that has come out so far has shown you to be an out and out liar (eg Cohen tape, purpose of June 9 meeting, etc).”
What lying? Nothing in the dossier has proved to be false (including your pee tape). But we can agree that we all look forward to the facts coming out. Everything that has come out so far has shown you to be an out and out liar (eg Cohen tape, purpose of June 9 meeting, etc). https://t.co/or1ZQbCmy0
— Daniel Goldman (@danielsgoldman) August 5, 2018
“As we sit here today, where you’ve, I guess, got a tweet about a ‘pee tape,’ presenting yourself as ‘not a partisan,’ hired by the Democrats to pursue the president, do you regret this tweet?” Gaetz asked.
“Sir, I would be happy to put this investigation up with any of the nonpartisan investigations I did during my ten years as a federal prosecutor –” started Goldman.
“I just wanna know if you regret this tweet,” Gaetz interjected.
“I hope you read the evidence,” Goldman answered.
Gaetz concluded the questioning time by listing hurting Americans whom he said would find their needs far more urgent that the “partisan” impeachment proceedings by Democrats, which Goldman called “the most urgent thing we could possibly do,” according to the Republican.
WATCH:
This is the most partisan presidential impeachment in American history.
The American people are thriving. Why won’t Democrats help us move along the critical issues that are far more important than their partisan impeachment?#ImpeachmentHearings pic.twitter.com/EgrZgREd5E
— Rep. Matt Gaetz (@RepMattGaetz) December 9, 2019