Alleged extorter of Rep. Matt Gaetz admits he asked for $25 million, claims it wasn't extortion
Ex-USAF intelligence officer tells bizarre story of having proof CIA agent Robert Levinson, missing and presumed dead, is alive; needed $25M to 'get him out'
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and his alleged extorter, former USAF intel officer Bob Kent. (Photo Illustration: Dan Fields/Getty Images)
The man accused of trying to extort $25 million from Rep. Matt Gaetz’s family admitted Monday that he asked the congressman’s dad for cash — but denied that it was a shakedown.
Bob Kent, a former U.S. Air Force intelligence officer and one of the men Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., claims was behind an extortion attempt in connection with allegations of sexual misconduct involving underage girls, admits that he asked Gaetz’s father for $25 million.
In an interview Monday on SiriusXM’s “The Michael Smerconish Program,” Kent said he needed money to help locate missing FBI agent Robert Levinson, long disappeared and presumed dead in Iran, and he had heard that Gaetz was under investigation, so he saw an opportunity that could be mutually beneficial.
"Matt Gaetz is in need of good publicity, and I’m in need of $25 million to rescue Robert Levinson," Kent said.
Levinson’s own family presumes him to be dead after he disappeared in 2007. Kent claims he has seen video evidence that leads him to believe Levinson is alive in Iran. Kent claims he is now a private security consultant after retiring from Air Force intelligence. Kent said he met Don Gaetz, Matt’s dad and a wealthy former Florida politician, at his office on March 17 — and told him his son was having “legal issues” and might want to “generate good will” by helping with the rescue effort.
"At first he started laughing and he said, ‘You know we get these extortion attempts all the time,’" Kent recalled. "And I said ‘Whoa, stop. This is not an extortion attempt. I’m not trying to extort him, I’m not, you know, that’s not what we’re doing here.’ " He said he then showed Don Gaetz video evidence that Levinson was alive, which the ex-intel officers claims interested the elder Gaetz.
Kent insisted to Smerconish that there was no extortion involved.
Leftist hack Michael Smerconish, host of a show on SirusXM’s “POTUS” channel, gave air to Bob Kent’s absurd story about aksing Rep. Matt Gaetz’s dad for $25 million while insisting it wasn’t a shakedown. (Photo: Erin Fox/Getty Images)
"I never threatened the man — matter of fact, it was the opposite: I told him if he decides not to help us, he’ll never hear from me again," he claimed. "I said if you want to help us, keep everything legal and above-board, it’ll have to go through the law firm," he continued, referring to Levinson family attorney David McGee, with whom he had been working.
ACV reached out to Gaetz’s office for a response to Kent's claims, but they did not immediately respond. Gaetz has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing regarding the allegations of sex trafficking involving a 17-year-old girl anonymous FBI sources claimed traveled with Gaetz between Florida and Washington in 2017.
Following a New York Times report that said Gaetz is currently the subject of a federal sex trafficking investigation involving the then-17-year-old, the congressman denied wrongdoing and said he was the target of an extortion attempt.
Details of the proposed payment arrangement came to light when The Washington Examiner reported on a document titled “Project Homecoming,” which claims the FBI had learned of "compromising pictures" of Gaetz.
The document said that "to mitigate his legal, and political, troubles" Gaetz could arrange for the payment of the $25 million needed to free Levinson, in exchange for credit for the operation and a recommendation that President Biden issue Gaetz a pardon. It was clear from Kent’s Monday SiriusXM interview that the FBI had nothing to do with the document making the original allegations.
Kent told Smerconish that he did not write the Project Homecoming document, and said it was penned by Stephen Alford. Alford has multiple fraud-related arrests and served a 10-year federal prison sentence for fraud.
Last week, Gaetz told Fox News' Tucker Carlson that his family had notified the FBI about the alleged extortion, naming McGee as being behind it. Gaetz said his father had worn a wire during a meeting as part of an investigation of the extortion claim, and that he believes the Times story was leaked in order to thwart that investigation.
Kent told Smerconish that he hopes the elder Gaetz was wearing a wire during that their meeting, and that he is "cooperating" with the FBI.