Tag Archives: Matt Gaetz

The Washington Post reports: The House Ethics committee on Friday said it would launch an investigation into Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), who has been accused of sexual misconduct, among a litany of other things. The Justice Department is investigating Gaetz for an alleged relationship with a 17-year-old girl. In a statement Friday, the committee chairman said they were aware of …

The Tallahassee Democrat reports: Halsey Beshears, the former head of the state’s Department of Business and Professional Regulation and a seven-year state House member from Jefferson County, is the third Florida Republican caught up in a federal sex trafficking investigation. The widening probe that stems from irregularities in the Seminole County Tax Collector’s office has placed Beshears on a plane …

The New York Times reports: A second senior aide to Representative Matt Gaetz, Republican of Florida, abruptly quit in recent days as the congressman tries to fend off a Justice Department sex trafficking investigation and mounting public scrutiny, according to three people familiar with the decision. The aide, Devin Murphy, resigned as Mr. Gaetz’s legislative director on Friday. He told …

Politico reports: A boutique conservative consultancy group working on behalf of Rep. Matt Gaetz is threatening to sue journalists for their coverage of the embattled congressman. The entity, Logan Circle Group, is run by Harlan Hill, a former Democrat who became a top Trump surrogate during the 2016 presidential election. The official behind the recent legal threats is Erin Elmore, …

Law & Crime reports: One day after his friend Joel Greenberg’s lawyer signaled a potential cooperation agreement could put the congressman in jeopardy, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) has revealed hiring high-powered criminal defense counsel: attorneys Mark Mukasey and Isabelle Kirshner. The son of a former federal judge and ex-U.S. attorney general, Mukasey is deeply tied to former President Donald Trump. …

Attention Florida motorists: Embattled Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz is the “star” of a new billboard that proclaims “Matt Gaetz Wants to ‘Date’ Your Child.” The Sunshine State Republican is the subject of an ever-deepening scandal involving allegations of sex trafficking of minors, a fact that Mad Dog PAC founder Claude Taylor highlighted by funding the billboard. Hello, @mattgaetz any thoughts …

The New York Times reports: Mr. Gaetz, a Republican who represents the Florida Panhandle, and an ally in Florida politics, the lobbyist Chris Dorworth, discussed the possibility of putting a third-party candidate on the ballot to help an associate  of Gaetz, Jason Brodeur, according to two people told of the conversation. In Mr. Brodeur’s race, a third candidate did appear …

Politico reports: Rep. Adam Kinzinger called on fellow Republican lawmaker Matt Gaetz to resign Thursday night, making him the first Republican to do so since it was revealed that the Justice Department is investigating the Florida congressman over sex trafficking allegations. Kinzinger (R-Ill.), an Air Force veteran and one of former President Donald Trump’s fiercest critics within the party, has …

The Daily Beast reports: In two late-night Venmo transactions in May 2018, Rep. Matt Gaetz sent his friend, the accused sex trafficker Joel Greenberg, $900. The next morning, over the course of eight minutes, Greenberg used the same app to send three young women varying sums of money. In total, the transactions amounted to $900. The memo field for the …

Mediaite reports: The attorney for an associate to Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) suggested the embattled congressman had reason to be concerned that his client was working with prosecutors to build a case against him. “I’m sure Matt Gaetz is not feeling very comfortable today,” Fritz Scheller, an attorney to former Seminole County tax collector Joel Greenberg, said in an afternoon …

The Insider reports: GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz released a statement from the “women” of his office defending him amid an escalating sex scandal, but no women were named and no one signed the statement. The statement, signed by “The Women of the Office of U.S. Congressman Matt Gaetz,” said: “After the shocking allegations last week in the press, we, the …

Politico reports: The legal peril Rep. Matt Gaetz is facing appeared to increase sharply after a court hearing indicated that one of his close friends, former Seminole County, Fla., tax collector Joel Greenberg, is likely cooperating with federal prosecutors. The federal probe looking into whether Gaetz had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl and paid for her travel began …

The Tampa Bay Times reports: Former Seminole County tax collector Joel Greenberg claimed to have explosive devices and threatened to harm himself while negotiating his surrender with deputy sheriffs in early March, which delayed for hours his arrest for violating his bond conditions, newly released records state. In an incident report, Seminole County Deputy Jerome Grunat wrote that when he …

CBS News reports: Federal investigators are looking into a Bahamas trip Matt Gaetz allegedly took in late 2018 or early 2019 as part of an inquiry into whether the Florida representative violated sex trafficking laws, multiple sources told CBS News. Gaetz was on that trip with a marijuana entrepreneur and hand surgeon named Jason Pirozzolo, who allegedly paid for the …

History tells us that it really did happen: Former President Trump on Wednesday denied that Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) directly asked him for a blanket pardon, and appeared to defend the congressman amid allegations of sexual misconduct. “Congressman Matt Gaetz has never asked me for a pardon,” Trump said in a statement. “It must also be remembered that he has …

The New York Times reports: Representative Matt Gaetz, Republican of Florida, was one of President Donald J. Trump’s most vocal allies during his term, publicly pledging loyalty and even signing a letter nominating the president for the Nobel Peace Prize. In the final weeks of Mr. Trump’s term, Mr. Gaetz sought something in return. He privately asked the White House …

Mediaite reports: Women for America First is hosting a “Save America Summit” at Trump National Doral, the former president’s Miami resort, this weekend the announcement says, “Congressman Matt Gaetz has been a fearless leader in Washington. Few members of Congress have been more willing than Matt to stand up and fight on behalf of President Trump and his America First …

Talking Points Memo reports: The congressman has happily given interviews and on-the-record quotes, penned op-eds and furiously retweeted supportive articles and takes from rightwing outlets. On Tuesday, he took that baffling PR strategy a step further as he sent out a fundraising blast to his supporters bemoaning the “smear campaign.” “The far-left New York Times has been publishing salacious allegations …

The Orlando Sentinel reports: While serving in the Florida Legislature, U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz opposed a bill meant to stop people from sharing sexually explicit images of their ex-lovers because Gaetz believed that recipients of those images had a right to share them, according to the sponsor of the legislation. Former state Rep. Tom Goodson, a Republican from Brevard County, …

Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz writes: Washington scandal cycles are predictable, and sex is especially potent in politics. Let me first remind everyone that I am a representative in Congress, not a monk, and certainly not a criminal. Nancy Pelosi once defended President Bill Clinton after he got an intern to fellate him in the Oval Office. But when it comes …