Matt Gaetz calls Britney Spears’ dad ‘a d***’ outside conservatorship hearing

Florida congressman made an appearance at the #FreeBritney Rally outside the Stanley Mosk Courthouse in Los Angeles

Matt Gaetz at a #FreeBritney Rally at Stanley Mosk Courthouse in LA on 14 July 2021. (Emma McIntyre/Getty Images)

US Rep Matt Gaetz has visited Britney Spears’ conservatorship hearing and took aim at her father, telling assembled the press: “There’s a lot that still divides us but one thing we call all agree on is that Jamie Spears is a d***.”

Mr Gaetz added outside the courtroom on Wednesday in Los Angeles: “He should not be making any more decisions regarding his daughter, she is nearly 40 years old.”

Earlier this month, Mr Gaetz and several other House Republicans wrote to Spears asking her to testify before Congress following her rare public remarks condemning her father’s legal mechanism that has governed her life for more than a decade.

Ms Spears detailed the “abusive” depths of the conservatorship and has pleaded for her release for years.

Mr Gaetz himself is currently is facing a federal law enforcement investigation stemming from the prosecution of a Florida official who pleaded guilty to sex trafficking a minor, among other felony charges. Mr Gaetz has denied all wrongdoing and has not been accused of a crime.

Joel Greenberg, a former Florida tax collector, admitted to introducing a “minor to other adult men, who engaged in commercial sex acts” with her, according to a plea agreement filed on 14 May. The other men were not named. He has agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in other cases.

Mr Gaetz also faces a House Ethics Committee investigation.