Former Air Force intelligence officer accused of trying to extort Matt Gaetz breaks silence to admit he DID ask congressman's father for $25M - but says it was to rescue American hostage Robert Levinson in Iran
- Bob Kent sought to clear his name in a bizarre interview with CNN's Chris Cuomo on Monday night
- He explained that he approached Matt Gaetz's father Don last month seeking $25million to finance a plot to rescue American hostage Robert Levinson in Iran
- Kent said that he thought involving Gaetz in the rescue mission would create 'good will' for the congressman as he faced 'legal issues'
- In messages released by Gaetz last week, Kent said he had information about a Justice Department probe into sex trafficking allegations
- Kent insisted that it was not his intention to extort the Gaetz family
- He said he told Don 'if he decides not to help us, he'll never hear from me again'
By
MEGAN SHEETS FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 23:43 EDT, 5 April 2021 | UPDATED: 07:27 EDT, 6 April 2021
-
-
-
McGee and Kent said that Gaetz was about to be indicted but that they could stop it if the Gaetz family put up $25million which would help secure Levinson's release.
Levinson worked for the FBI for 22 years then vanished in 2007 while in Iran. Nothing was known as to whether he was alive or dead until 2011 when Levinson's family shared images and a video of him being held captive and pleading for help.
Levinson's family said in March 2020 that they had been informed by US officials that he had died in Iranian custody, while being held in Iran as the longest-held hostage in American history.
But Kent claimed he was very much alive and that if Gaetz provided the money to release him, he would be given public credit for the operation and the 'team' would tell President Biden to give him a pardon in the sex trafficking case.
McGee used to work for the Department of Justice but now works in private practice and is the Levinson family's lawyer.
Kent has claimed in the past that he has worked on plans to secure Levinson's release.
Speaking to CNN on Monday night, Kent said that if Gaetz really believed he was being extorted 'he could have kept this quiet and gone to the FBI'.
Instead Kent said Gaetz 'exposed the Levinson family to additional grief, and he's capitalizing off that and trying to direct attention from himself'.
'Robert Levinson is a constituent of Matt Gaetz, and you know - the congressman just made the Levinson situation worse,' Kent said.
'If he is alive, he is directly impacting his predicament right now.'
Cuomo pressed Kent to explain the details about the investigation that he included in his letter to Don - specifically the part about the allegedly compromising photos.
'How confident are you in what you are told?' Cuomo asked.
Kent replied: 'So, you can never be confident of rumors. Those are just rumors that are rampant in north Florida among the legal and journalist communities.
'I don't have any information on a federal investigation. Those were just rumors that were circulating.'
Asked about Don's claims that he was wearing a wire during their meeting, Kent said he hoped that was true because it would prove what he'd said.
Kent spoke out for the first time as Gaetz published a defiant op-ed for the Washington Examiner, in which he insisted that he will not quit Congress, denied accusations he had sex with a 17-year-old girl and said he's being targeted by political enemies because he 'loathes the swamp.'
-
-
-
-Much more