Trump slams CNN report as false, says Rep. Gaetz did not seek meeting

Donald Trump launched a scathing attack Monday on CNN for reporting that GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida unsuccessfully sought a meeting with the former president.

CNN reported that Gaetz had sought to schedule a meeting with Trump, but that the request was declined by Trump aides. 

"Fake News CNN, relying on all anonymous sources, meaning they probably made the whole thing up, wrote a very dishonest story claiming Congressman Matt Gaetz asked for a meeting with me at Mar-a-Lago, in Palm Beach, Florida, and was denied. This is completely false," Trump said. 

The former president then asked why the media outlet does not scrutinize Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell, who he said should be ousted from the House Intelligence Committee.

"Why doesn’t CNN investigate and write about lightweight Democrat Congressman Eric Swalwell, who had a torrid and physical relationship with the Chinese spy Fang-Fang, but is somehow on the once-prestigious House Intelligence Committee. Swalwell, who ran for President and dropped out with a record-setting 0% in the polls, has been compromised and is a national security threat to the United States—he should be removed from the Committee immediately!" Trump said in the statement.

Axios in December reported about Swalwell's prior connections with a Chinese woman named Fang Fang or Christine Fang. While the report did not state that the woman had a sexual relationship with Swalwell, it did note that she had "engaged in sexual or romantic relationships with at least two mayors of Midwestern cities over a period of about three years, according to one U.S. intelligence official and one former elected official."