Tag Archives: scandal

CBS News reports: House Republican Conference Chair Liz Cheney (Wyo.) said on Sunday that the allegations against one of her harshest critics, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), are “sickening,” but refused to say whether or not he should resign. While appearing on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” host Margaret Brennan asked Cheney if she would call for Gaetz’s resignation. “You know, as …

Politico reports: Rep. Matt Gaetz insists he’s not resigning amid an ongoing federal investigation, but Republicans in his deep red Florida district are already eyeing his seat. Several Republican elected officials and others who live in the sprawling Panhandle district said they received a robo-call over the weekend asking voters if they thought Gaetz would step down due to his …

The Wichita Eagle reports: Kansas Senate Republicans ousted Sen. Gene Suellentrop as majority leader Friday — the first major political penalty paid by the Wichita Republican after he was charged with leading police on a drunken wrong-way chase down Interstate 70. The extraordinary vote by the GOP caucus marked an all-out attempt by senators to separate themselves from Suellentrop, who …

“Let me assure you, I have not yet begun to fight for the country I love and for the nation that I know benefits from America First principles. “I’m built for the battle and I’m not going anywhere. I won’t be intimidated by a lying media. “‘We have your back.’ That is the sentiment I have heard from thousands of …

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 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 …

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 …

Topeka’s ABC News reports: After his arrest at 12:49 a.m. on March 16, the officer’s report reveals that the Senate Majority Leader commented “All for going the wrong way” and referred to him as “donut boy” while in the intoxilyzer room. Suellentrop, 69, refused a breathalyzer test, however, Judge Penny Moylan signed a search warrant for a blood sample. At …

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 …

Florida Politics reports: Eric M. Lipman, general counsel for the Florida Elections Commission, was arrested Wednesday and charged with possession of child pornography. A news release from the Leon County Sheriff’s Office stated Lipman, 59, was charged with 11 counts of possession of child pornography. The Sheriff’s office reported he was taken to the Leon County Detention Facility, but that …

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 …

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 …