Unhinged Matt Gaetz threatens to detonate explosives in Capitol building

Here’s the thing about federal criminal investigations. According to reports from multiple major news outlets, the only reason Matt Gaetz hasn’t yet been indicted and arrested is that his former associate Joel Greenberg gave the Feds so much evidence to work through. But because of the time that’s passed, Gaetz has probably begun deluding himself into believing that he’s somehow gotten away with it all.

This might explain why Gaetz’s behavior has reached a whole new level of cockiness and brazenness, that’s now spilled over into specific threats to detonate explosives in the Capitol building:

Gaetz is already insisting on Twitter that it was just a “joke.” But there are instances where even “joking” about committing a terrorist attack against the United States government and/or its elected officials can get you in legal trouble.

Even if Gaetz’s “joke” isn’t something he can be arrested for, his increasingly brazen behavior could prompt federal investigators to go ahead and bring the criminal indictment sooner than they otherwise would have. When a criminal target’s behavior begins veering toward additional criminal behavior, it’s one of the few things that can prompt the Feds to speed up their indictment timetable. Gaetz would be wise to stop running his mouth. But if he wants to get himself indicted sooner, then by all means, he can keep talking like this.