- Bill Barr threatened to fire a US attorney who'd spoken with Matt Gaetz about DOJ business, Politico reported.
- "If I ever hear of you talking to Gaetz ... I am going to f---ing fire your ass," Barr reportedly said.
- He reportedly made the threat last year during a DOJ investigation into Gaetz.
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Then-Attorney General Bill Barr was furious last year after a US attorney close to Rep. Matt Gaetz spoke to the lawmaker about Justice Department business, Politico reported on Tuesday.
"If I ever hear of you talking to Gaetz or any other congressman again about business before the department, I am going to f---ing fire your ass," Barr reportedly told Larry Keefe, Gaetz's former law partner whom President Donald Trump later tapped to lead the US Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Florida.
The threat came as Keefe was looking to launch an investigation into voter fraud in Florida and while Joe Biden was on the cusp of becoming the Democratic Party's nominee, according to Politico.
The exact timing of Barr's phone call to Keefe wasn't clear, but it took place in the late summer or early fall, as the department was also investigating whether Gaetz had had sex with a minor and broken federal sex-trafficking laws.
Sources familiar with the matter told Politico that lawyers in the Justice Department's Public Integrity Section were concerned that the scope of the investigation Keefe wanted was too broad. Keefe, meanwhile, is said to have discussed the situation with Gaetz. The Florida lawmaker told Politico that he and Keefe had just spoken broadly about "legal doctrine related to jurisdiction and venue" and not about the specifics of any investigation.
Eventually, Trump learned of their conversation. Gaetz told Politico he'd spoken to Trump about voter fraud linked to absentee ballots and then raised a legal theory Keefe had mentioned to him.
"I said to him that an appreciation for the Keefe position on venue would give good U.S. attorneys in every capital city the necessary jurisdiction to root out fraud," Gaetz told Politico. "I also shared with President Trump that Keefe had faced substantial resistance from the Department of Justice."
Gaetz said Trump told the White House counsel Pat Cipollone, who was at the meeting, to discuss the idea with Barr. Upon hearing about the conversation, Barr became infuriated, called Keefe, and threatened to fire him, Politico said.
Gaetz told Politico that he was not aware of the phone call but that he did get a call from Keefe saying he couldn't discuss DOJ matters with Gaetz. Keefe told the outlet that it was "not appropriate" for him to discuss his work as a US attorney but that he stood by his decisions.
Barr was one of several senior Trump appointees at the department who were aware of — and greenlighted — the investigation into Gaetz. Earlier this month, Politico reported that Barr had specifically avoided being seen or photographed with Gaetz in public while the investigation was ongoing.
The New York Times revealed the existence of the Gaetz sex-trafficking investigation late last month. The Republican lawmaker has denied any wrongdoing and said he never paid women for sex or had a sexual relationship with a minor as an adult man. Prosecutors are said to have zeroed in on Gaetz as part of a broader investigation into an associate, Joel Greenberg, a former Florida tax collector. Greenberg has been indicted on 33 felony counts, including carrying out the sex trafficking of a minor between the ages of 14 and 17.
Earlier this month, prosecutors and Greenberg's defense attorneys told a federal judge that they were close to striking a plea deal.
"I'm sure Matt Gaetz is not feeling very comfortable today," Greenberg's lawyer, Fritz Scheller, told reporters afterward.
The Times later reported that Greenberg had been cooperating against Gaetz since last year.