Jesus Christ

Matt Gaetz backed down and was shunted aside because the truth was yet to be uncovered, but, here we go...

Reactions mounted Thursday after a woman sharing her story for the first time said that then-Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) sexually abused her when she was just 17, while she was living in a homeless shelter and trying to save money to buy braces to fix her teeth.

[...]

[A] federal judge in Florida unsealed court documents that described the victim as "a then-homeless 17-year-old high schooler."

Wolf said her client was living with a parent in a homeless shelter and needed money when she falsely advertised herself as an 18-year-old on a "sugar daddy" dating website in 2017.

  Raw Story

Yes, he thought she was 18. Barely legal. But he obviously didn't care anything about her circumstances.

"Beyond horrific details coming out about Matt Gaetz. Details that @SpeakerJohnson fought to cover up. The GOP has a MASSIVE pedophilia problem. It's sick," communications director for Leaders We Deserve Matilda Bress wrote on X.

"Matt Gaetz, who is now accused of paying a homeless minor for sex, was Donald Trump's top pick for Attorney General. There are no coincidences," The Lincoln Project wrote on X.

[...]

"These are just disgusting people. Big kudos to this girl (now woman) allegedly trafficked to Matt Gaetz, by a friend of his who sometimes paid for sex on his government credit card. Her story is horrific and she sounds brave and tough as nails to be sharing it," writer and editor Amanda Katz wrote on Bluesky.

[...]

"That's why Matt Gaetz is out of office. And that's why Trump should be on his way out of office," high school chemistry teacher Anup Sinha wrote on Bluesky.

There are a million reasons why Trump should be on his way out of office.

The Gaetz report

Trump and Clarence Thomas in unison:  Is that all???

Former Rep. Matt Gaetz, a Florida Republican who briefly stood to become President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be attorney general, was found by congressional ethics investigators to have paid numerous women — including a 17-year-old girl — for sex, and to have purchased and used illegal drugs, including from his Capitol Hill office, according to a final draft of a comprehensive investigative report obtained by CBS News.

[...]

Among the report's most lurid findings were the allegations of sex- and drug-fueled parties and travel, including a 2018 trip to the Bahamas where witnesses say he took ecstasy and had sex with four women.

"From 2017 to 2020, Representative Gaetz made tens of thousands of dollars in payments to women that the Committee determined were likely in connection with sexual activity and/or drug use," noted the report, which lists payments totaling more than $90,000 to 12 different women.

The committee said it also received testimony that at a 2017 party, Gaetz twice had sex with "Victim A," who was 17 years old at the time and had just completed her junior year in high school.

"Victim A recalled receiving $400 in cash from Representative Gaetz that evening, which she understood to be payment for sex," the committee wrote. "Victim A said that she did not inform Representative Gaetz that she was under 18 at the time, nor did he ask her age."

[...]

The committee said it did not find sufficient evidence Gaetz violated the federal sex trafficking statute because although he transported women across state lines for the purpose of sex, those women were all 18 or older at the time.

[...]

The report found "substantial evidence" Gaetz engaged in rampant illicit drug use. The committee said it obtained text messages he sent where he referred to drugs as "party favors," "rolls" or "vitamins." It also said he created a fake email from his Capitol Hill office "for the purpose of purchasing marijuana." The report noted that Gaetz had denied using illicit drugs in his written answers to the committee.

In addition to sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, the report also accused Gaetz of accepting gifts of luxury travel in excess of permissible limits with the 2018 trip to the Bahamas. And, it said he arranged for his chief of staff to assist a woman with whom he had engaged in sexual activity in obtaining a passport, falsely indicating to the State Department that she was one of his constituents.

[...]

The House Ethics Committee had initially voted to keep the report under wraps, but reversed course in a secret vote earlier this month. Two Republican members of the committee were among those who voted for its release, according to two sources familiar with the vote. The committee has 10 members, evenly split between Republicans and Democrats.

  CBS News

Begging the question: Why did he wait until now?

What's the holdup?

Gaetz is toast.  Trump didn't have his back.  Now he's relegated to being a talking head on a third rate MAGA TV channel.  What's to protect?  

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE 10:57 am:

Hmmmm....I thought that under 18 thing had been settled.  Last I read, he was having sex with a girl of 17 who he supposedly didn't know was 17, and when he found out, they broke it off until she turned 18.

Protect the swamp

House Republicans [yesterday] voted down a privileged resolution brought by Democrats to release the House Ethics report on Matt Gaetz to the public. They are going to hide his misconduct to the bitter end.

  Meidas Touch

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE 09:41 am:  

Look for mass resignations

Matt Gaetz heading DOJ, and Tulsi Gabbard, the woman who thinks Ukraine is a corrupt autocracy, heading US Intelligence.  Oh, and Pete Hegseth at the Pentagon.

This will make it easier to sort out which civil servants need to be fired in Trump II.

He's not going to be subjected to a confirmation hearing.  He's going to be a recess appointment.

Be that as it may, these are Republicans we're talking about, so if he wants them to recess, they will.  No force will be required.

I expect a scramble by the Four Eyes to protect their data as best they can and to throttle down what they share with the US starting now.

Another Matt Gaetz tease

The filings cite affidavits based on three witness testimonies—which remain sealed—which put the Florida congressman at the party, according to Notus. One witness cited by the filings says the girl, a high school junior, was naked and said people were there to “engage in sexual activities” while drugs including cocaine and ecstasy were present.

The documents were filed by lawyers trying to recoup legal fees in a lawsuit filed by Chris Dorworth—a lobbyist friend of Gaetz’s who hosted the alleged party at his Florida home.

[...]

Gaetz has previously denied engaging sex trafficking or having sex with a minor, and a DOJ investigation ended without charges being brought against the congressman.

  Daily Beast

God, this Gaetz shit drips out slowly.  Like Trump, I'm beginning to believe, he'll never be held to account.  Can DOJ reopen the case?

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Talk about dragging something out

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

House feud

Tensions between [House Speaker Kevin] McCarthy and [Rep. Matt] Gaetz were on the rise over August recess, with the Florida Republican warning the Speaker that he could lose his gavel if he stands in the way of Gaetz’s efforts to force votes on impeachment.

[...]

Upping the pressure another notch, a coalition of conservatives on Wednesday blocked an effort to advance legislation funding the Pentagon over demands for deeper spending cuts — amid increased conversations over potentially ousting the Speaker.

The tension was evident the next morning.

“If you want to file a motion to vacate, then file the f‑‑‑ing motion,” McCarthy said during a closed-door GOP conference meeting on Thursday, according to Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.).

The California Republican acknowledged he had displayed “frustration” during the meeting, saying after the gathering that he was “frustrated with some people in the conference” after the Pentagon appropriations bill tanked.

Gaetz responded by saying McCarthy should better handle his emotions.

[...]

“There’s not much to negotiate. We did the negotiation in January,” [Gaetz] added. “We’re not going to pay twice for the same hostage. We want full compliance with the deal we made in January.”

  The Hill

Hostage is a good word.

McCarthy, for his part, has said Gaetz is taking him on for personal reasons, claiming that the Florida Republican thinks the Speaker is meddling in his Ethics Committee investigation.

[...]

Gaetz has not publicly accused McCarthy of playing a role in his Ethics Committee investigation. The Speaker, however, thinks that is the source of his conservative colleague’s frustration and not how the appropriations and legislative processes are being handled.

[...]

He said McCarthy’s implication that he wanted special treatment in regards to the complaint is “an abject lie from a sad and pathetic man who lies to hold onto power.”

[...]

The House Ethics Committee opened a probe into Gaetz in 2021 on allegations that he may have engaged in sexual misconduct, illicit drug use, the sharing of inappropriate images or videos on the House floor, the misuse of state identification records, converting campaigns funds to personal use and the acceptable of a bribe, improper gratuity or an impermissible gift.

The panel eventually deferred its investigation to the Department of Justice (DOJ) per their request, as the congressman was under investigation for alleged sex-trafficking. Gaetz’s office announced in February that the DOJ had concluded its probe and decided not to charge him.

But in June, Punchbowl News reported that the Ethics Committee restarted its investigation into Gaetz, and one month later, CNN and ABC News said the panel was contacting witnesses for the probe.

I missed that part.

Gaetz on Thursday took the feud a step further, giving McCarthy a nickname on X: “McFailure.”

Oh how clever. Eyeroll.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Well, fuck this

I imagine they don't think a win would be a sure thing, so I get it.  It's just that I don't want this unmitigated asshole to get away with being an unmitigated asshole.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Ooops

Faced with an onslaught of accusations that he engaged in underage sex trafficking—and bracing for criminal charges—Gaetz allowed his license to practice law in his home state of Florida to lapse this month.

On Friday, The Daily Beast revealed that Gaetz had not paid the fees he owes to The Florida Bar, which regulates lawyers there. That mistake prompted the organization to deem him “delinquent” and “not eligible to practice law in Florida.”

[...]

Gaetz’s office initially chalked it up to a career change.

“Congressman Gaetz is no longer actively engaged in the practice of law.

  Daily Beast

That sounds like a very flimsy excuse. Why would you allow your law license to expire ever?

Instead, attorneys taking a hiatus normally pay a smaller $175 fee to remain “inactive” but still a “member in good standing.”

[...]

[A]fter our story published, Gaetz on Friday morning rushed to file a signed petition to get reinstated and pay the $265 fee—plus another $200 in late fees, according to the professional association.

Yeah, that's more like it. On the other hand, was he just not paying attention? Not reading his mail?

The Daily Beast has learned that the Florida Bar has branded Gaetz as “delinquent” twice in the past two years. The organization temporarily cut him off in 2019 and again in 2020, because Gaetz failed to affirm that he is properly handling and protecting any clients’ money in trust accounts.

That's even worse.

In 2019, he also ran afoul of the professional organization’s “standards of civility” for serving the role of Trump attack dog. Gaetz threatened Trump Organization attorney-turned-whistleblower Michael Cohen on the eve of his tell-all congressional testimony, tweeting at him: “Do your wife & father-in-law know about your girlfriends?”

Are you fucking kidding me? The guy who's being investigated for sex-trafficking underage girls is drawing attention to a girlfriend problem? (And, hey, we're talking about Michael Cohen here. I have no doubt his wife knew about "girlfriends".)

The Daily Beast has previously revealed how Gaetz befriended a local Florida tax official and allegedly used him to arrange paid sex with college girls. The Daily Beast also obtained a confession letter from his wingman, Joel Greenberg, noting how Gaetz paid for sex with multiple women—as well as a girl who was 17 at the time.

[...]

The New York Times reported Thursday night that two top federal prosecutors had joined the legal team investigating the child sex trafficking allegations against Gaetz.

Uh-oh, Matt.

Gaetz had failed to pay his $265 annual dues before the Oct. 1 deadline. He could have sent in a paper check or paid online via credit card with a Visa, MasterCard, or American Express.

“I don’t think they take Venmo, so maybe that was the problem,” Uhlfelder said.

Oh, zing! Venmo is how Matt allegedly paid his "girlfriends".

How is Marge T Greene going to get along without Matt when he's doing time?

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

This seems to be taking an awfully long time

Grand Jury in the Matt Gaetz case.

Gaetz has been under investigation to determine if he violated sex trafficking laws and obstructed justice.

[...]

One of the sources said she has information related to the investigation of both the sex trafficking and obstruction allegations.

"This may be a willing participant who has a smart lawyer who sought an immunity deal from the government," said former prosecutor and CBS News legal analyst Rikki Kleiman. "The government does not give immunity blindly, they know what they're getting in exchange."

[...]

A source told CBS News last week that as a part of an obstruction probe, investigators are looking into whether Gaetz had a phone call with the ex-girlfriend, and another woman, who was already a witness in the federal investigation.

Multiple sources told CBS News that the ex-girlfriend and the other woman traveled to the Bahamas with Gaetz in 2018, along with a third woman with whom Gaetz was in a sexual relationship. That third woman was 18 at the time of the Bahamas trip, but investigators are also looking into whether she was 17 when the sexual relationsInvestigators are trying to determine if any of the women were paid and were illegally trafficked across state or international lines for the purpose of sex with the congressman. 

  CBS

Honestly, I don't think this is anybody's business other than the obstruction of justice bit and the possibility Gaetz has been lying about it and whether he's involved with other underage girls. That is, I don't think his sexual activities should be cause for criminal charges if the woman was 18 (or about to be 18), but I do think the fact that he's dating 18-year-olds should disqualify him for serving in Congress. Too immature and too stupid.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Hey! This'll surprise you

Matt Gaetz is corrupt.

Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz has privately engaged in several spending practices in his nearly four years in office that appear to be in conflict with the House’s ethics rules, a POLITICO investigation has found.

Gaetz, a close ally of President Donald Trump from the Florida Panhandle, improperly sent tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars to a limited liability company linked to a speech-writing consultant who was ousted from the Trump administration, in direct conflict with House rules.

[...]

The Florida Republican concedes that he improperly sent $28,000 in taxpayer funds to a limited liability company connected to the speech-writing consultant, Darren Beattie. [...] Gaetz’s aides said it was a clerical error that they are now working to reverse.

[...]

“The funds were all immediately returned to the House as soon as the review determined this was not the right way to structure this,” Wyant added. “This is nothing more than a glorified clerical error – and while it is baffling that Politico should find this newsworthy – it is disappointing Politico plots to demean individuals who’ve made an innocent clerical mistake and are working to correct it.”

  Politico

A clerical error.

After ignoring inquiries about the payments to the arrangement with Beattie for six weeks, Gaetz’s office replied Friday evening via chief of staff Jillian Lane Wyant: “Although the contractual arrangement was approved by the necessary House authorities, a second review by the Finance Office determined that the services could not be contracted for in exactly that fashion, and our office is currently working through the best way to proceed with both Finance and the House Ethics Committee.

[...]

The agreement involving the speech-writing consultant appears to have begun after Beattie was ousted from the Trump administration after his appearance at the H.L. Mencken Club Conference. The Southern Poverty Law Center calls attendees of the conference “a band of white nationalists, pseudo academic and academic racists.”

[...]

Gaetz’s spending has already been under review. The Office of Congressional Ethics recently dropped an investigation into Gaetz’s office rental agreement after POLITICO reported in April that he had rented his office in Pensacola, Fla., from a longtime friend, political donor and policy adviser. Both the friend — local businessman Collier Merrill — and Gaetz said the rental deal was hashed out privately and below market value.

[...]

In another possible violation, a private company installed a television studio in his father’s home in Niceville, Fla., which Gaetz uses when he appears on television. Taxpayers foot the bill to rent the television camera, and the private company that built the studio — which Gaetz refuses to identify — takes a fee each time he appears on air, his office said.

[...]

This may run afoul of the House gift rule, which prohibits any lawmaker, aide, and their family members from accepting gifts worth more than $50. The official definition of a gift is very broad and covers virtually any good or service with monetary value.

[...]

Gaetz was likewise circumspect about the television studio. On July 9, the Florida Republican’s office said he uses his allowable allotment of taxpayer funds to pay $100 per month to “rent a camera to communicate with constituents and the nation.” It said the “hard costs” were covered by a private company, which then charges television networks each time they connect to the studio. Gaetz, they said, is not involved in the transactions.

The $100 fee is not evident on any of the congressman’s spending records, and his office did not respond to requests about the private company that’s profiting off of his television appearances.

[...]

House officials and experts on the chamber's rules said it was extraordinarily unusual and likely violates the gift ban rule.

But he won't pay any price for any of it, and he knows that.

Gaetz’s aides said the House Ethics Committee approved both arrangements but declined to produce any evidence that that was the case.

Hmmmmm...John Ratcliffe was on the ethics committee 2017-19.

[Gaetz's] latest actions suggest a broader pattern by the second-term lawmaker of pushing the bounds of — if not outright defying — restrictions intended to guard against corruption and conflicts of interest.

It's the GOP in the era of Trump.

Gaetz is part of a new breed of Republican elected officials in the Trump era — a loud, bombastic voice defending the president, his policies and allies. He has a flair for publicity — at the beginning of the coronavirus crisis, he wore a gas mask to the House floor, a stunt that provoked widespread public reaction.

[...]

[H]e doesn’t pass many bills and has never been involved with high-stakes negotiations. Yet the media has become enamored with the 38-year-old lawmaker. He is an ardent defender of Roger Stone and lobbied Trump for his pardon.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.