Former Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz alleged that his past congressional delegation to Israel included a visit from a representative of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in his hotel room.
Gaetz went on several trips to Israel while he was still a representative for the state of Florida. He referred to these trips as “AIPAC trips,” as the committee funds the often bipartisan travel.
“There is an actual downward pressure from the leadership and even the committee chairs — like if you’re on the Foreign Affairs Committee, if you’re on the Armed Services Committee, if you’re on the Intelligence Committee — there’s like an expectation that you go there [to Israel] in some sort of congressional hodge,” Gaetz said on The Anchormen podcast Thursday.
Gaetz claimed there are “a lot of reasons why they [AIPAC] want members of Congress over there.” During one trip, Gaetz stayed at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem and found a visitor.
“I rolled back to my room unexpectedly when the rest of the group was still on some planned activity. There’s a dude in my room. I’m like, ‘Hey man, what are you doing here?’ He acted like he was associated with the hotel, taking an inventory but had no clipboard,” Gaetz said.
On Saturday, Gaetz stood by the story.
“This absolutely happened. I explained these events to my family in case something went awry with me,” Gaetz said.
“I reported this to my committee leadership at the time and was told it was ‘regular’ and I should never leave anything meaningful in my hotel room abroad as a member of Congress,” the former congressman said.
AIPAC spokesman Marshall Wittman denied Gaetz’s story in a statement to the Washington Examiner.
“This is a preposterously false allegation in a pathetic attempt to smear patriotic Americans who are engaged in the democratic process to strengthen our relationship with a strong and reliable ally, Israel,” Wittman said.
“We will not be deterred by extremists, of the Right or the Left, in our efforts which are consistent with American interests and values,” he added.
Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy was on Fox News’s Life, Liberty, and Levin Saturday, expressing his pride in the several congressional visits he led to Israel.
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“At times, we would have 10% of the Congress’ population in there,” McCarthy said.
Gaetz notably missed a vote on a high-profile resolution to condemn then-President Joe Biden over his pause on weapons transfers to Israel.
