'Lawyer up, dirtbag': Trump-loving congressman accused of witness tampering after he lashes out at Michael Cohen

Not only is President Donald Trump clearly fearful of what his former attorney Michael Cohen will say when he testifies publicly before Congress on Wednesday — the president's allies are also obviously spooked about what the hearing may reveal.

And on Tuesday afternoon, one of Trump's most fervent defenders in Congress, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), lashed out at Cohen on Twitter in what seemed to be a threat to blackmail him into not testifying, or at least an effort to cast doubt on his coming testimony.

To be clear, there was no reason to think Gaetz had any basis for this allegation, and he's been known to spread baseless misinformation on Twitter before.

Critics noted that the tweet sounded a lot like Trump's own threats to Cohen, which many argued were clear instances of witness intimidation — a federal crime.

Ken White noted, too, on Twitter: "It sure seems like you're threatening Michael Cohen that if he testifies before Congress you, or people aligned with you, will bring out embarrassing details about him. There's a whole bunch of obstruction statutes, sir, and if you're threatening to reveal embarrassing information to deter a witness from testifying before Congress, I think you need advice about whether you may be violating one or more of them."

He added that the Department of Justice takes these allegations seriously.

"In short, lawyer up, dirtbag," White concluded.

Asked by Vox's Alex Ward what he would say to those who accused him of witness tampering, Gatez said, "I'm witness testing." He said he disagreed with the allegation of witness tampering.