(Photo by Saul Loeb-Pool/Getty Images)

Need a quick hit of serotonin this afternoon? If so, may I suggest taking a quick break to watch this utter ownage of Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) at the hands of MSNBC’s Ari Melber on “The Beat.”

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The head-to-head of the two lawyers — Gaetz got his J.D. from William & Mary in 2007, and Melber got his from Cornell in ’09 — features some intense grilling on the subject of presidential pardons, and you love to see it. Gaetz denied the allegations made by multiple people that he sought a presidential pardon for himself in the waning days of the Trump administration. But rather than just accept the self-serving assertions, Melber brings the receipts, as reported by HuffPost:

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“Here’s some of the under-oath testimony from Trump insiders,” Melber said, bringing up video.

“We’ve got multiple people. The director of White House presidential personnel, [Johnny McEntee], who’s a Trump loyalist. Lawyer Eric Herschmann. Cassidy Hutchinson, famously. They all testified under oath that you specifically requested a pardon.”

After showing the footage, Melber continued: “So the question is, can you really say that all of them are committing perjury, lying on you? A. And B, if a pardon was requested, why not just tell us what were you worried about? What was it that you thought you or others might be indicted for?”

Gaetz offers a lot of excuses, but from my perspective, that amounts to a hill of beans. See for yourself below.

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Dang. @AriMelber presents a bunch of receipts after Gaetz denies seeking a pardon from Trump in the last days of the Trump presidency pic.twitter.com/jIW497wGHd

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 30, 2023

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Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Mastodon @[email protected].

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Ari Melber, Government, Matt Gaetz, Television