Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Greene invite Britney Spears to testify to Congress

Republican lawmakers tell star to ‘please take advantage of the empowerment that public congressional testimony can unlock’ following her revealing conservatorship testimony

Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Greene appear at a joint event on 27 May. (Getty Images)

US Rep Matt Gaetz and several other House Republicans have written to Britney Spears asking the pop star to testify to 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 during her revealing courtroom testimony in her conservatorship case.

In a letter dated 30 June, Mr Gaetz said: “Congress can make things better and you can inform our policy decisions. If you will speak to Congress, we are ready to listen.”

“Please take advantage of the empowerment that public congressional testimony can unlock,” he wrote.

The letter is signed by Marjorie Taylor Greene, Andy Biggs and Burgess Owens.

Ms Spears’s father, Jamie Spears, was the legal manager of his daughter’s multimillion-dollar estate since 2008; Jodi Montgomery, a private fiduciary, has served in that role since 2019.

In her testimony in a Los Angeles court on 23 June, Ms Spears detailed legal constraints against her, including a forced IUD contraception.

The recent adoption of the #FreeBritney movement by right-wing officials and personalities, among the most vocal proponents of anti-abortion policy and restrictive reproductive healthcare measures, has served as their platform for exposing guardianship abuse.

In March, Mr Gaetz and US Rep Jim Jordan requested that House Judiciary Committee chair Jerry Nadler hold a hearing on conservatorships.

Bessemer Trust, a wealth management firm that was set to become the co-conservator of Britney Spears’ estate alongside her father, filed in court on 1 July a request to withdraw from the agreement.

Mr Gaetz 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.

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 following similar allegations; he has denied any wrongdoing.

A group of 37 House Democrats on Thursday have also demanded Republican leadership take “immediate action” against Ms Greene, a far-right freshman lawmaker from Georgia whose “harassment” of colleagues has “reached an unacceptable level,” they claimed.