No Evidence Israel Was Involved In Extorting Representative Matt Gaetz

28th September 2021

No Evidence Israel Was Involved In Extorting Representative Matt Gaetz

Gaetz is under investigation for sex trafficking and other crimes(Getty Images).

The Claim

The State of Israel tried to extort $25 million from Representative Matt Gaetz’s family by claiming that the money would lead to a pardon for his alleged crimes.

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U.S. Representative Matt Gaetz recently speculated on Twitter that the State of Israel may have been involved in a supposed extortion plot against his family. Specifically, he claims that this plot involves several individuals who have attempted to gain $25 million from Gaetz’s father, supposedly to help free a U.S. hostage in Iran. This extortion attempt supposedly would have allowed Gaetz to gain a pardon for his alleged sexual relationship with a child.

Representative Gaetz’s post speculating that Israel was involved with the extortion has gained hundreds of interactions, as have tweets sharing the claims. Prior to Gaetz’s tweet, social media posts stating that evidence points to Israel being behind the extortion plot have gained hundreds of interactions.

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Misbar’s Analysis

MENA: Mibsar’s investigation found that an official Israeli Government Twitter account has clarified that neither the State of Israel nor the Consulate General of Israel in New York were involved in an extortion plot against Representative Gaetz. An individual named Jake Novak has been confirmed by multiple sources to have been involved in the attempt to get money from the Gaetz family. He works for the Consulate General of Israel in New York.

In addition to the official statement, we could find no evidence that links the State of Israel or any other official Israeli entity to a coordinated extortion scheme against Representative Gaetz. Some sources have claimed that images of Novak’s text messages show that the State of Israel is involved in the extortion attempt. But these images contain no mention of Israel or of Novak acting in an official capacity.