Category: Sex Scandals

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Crime GOP Sex Scandals

NY Times Reporter Explains Why Matt Gaetz Hasn’t Yet Been Indicted For Sexual Trafficking

For a year now, federal prosecutors have been investigating Florida Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz for allegedly transporting an underage girl across state lines and gave her money to have sex with him.

On Thursday, Gaetz’s so-called “wingman,” Joel Greenberg, was sentenced to 11 years in prison even though he cooperated with the Justice Department.

Why hasn’t Gaetz been charged? That was the question for New York Times reporter Michael Schmidt when he appeared on MSNBC and was asked by “Deadline: White House” host Nicolle Wallace:

“In documents filed in connection with Mr. Greenberg’s sentencing, the Justice Department said he, quote, ‘provided truthful and timely information that led to the charging of at least four of other people and provided substantial assistance on other matters that the government would address only in a sealed filing. Do you have any sense of what the other matters are, and if Mr. Greenberg is viewed as credible and witnessed Mr. Gaetz, quote, ‘having sex with the 17-year-old girl’? I believe it’s the same one and having evidence she was paid. Why Mr. Gaetz hasn’t been charged with the same crimes that Mr. Greenberg was sentenced for today?”

Schmidt explained:

“A high-profile matter is complicated for the Justice Department. The Justice Department, as you have seen, has moved very sort of methodically and, you know, at times, you know, according to the critics, slowly on the issues of politicians because they want to do a painstaking job to make sure they follow the evidence and the evidence is there to bring a case. It is — while we’re supposed to be treated equally under the law, it is more difficult to bring a prosecution against a high-profile politician, a member of Congress that allied himself so closely with Donald Trump. And I think that if the department were to bring a case and lose a case, it would have enormous consequences.”

Greenberg was a much easier case to prosecute, Schmidt continued:

“The decision to bring the charge in that sense against someone like Matt Gaetz is a much weightier decision than when the government had enormous amount of evidence against Joel Greenberg … and could get him to flip and cooperate. He had a lawyer who realized that the only pathway to reduce his sentence time was to cooperate. Greenberg was looking at up to three decades in prison for his crimes. He was sentenced to 11 years. That’s a significant departure. That was due to his cooperation.”

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Donald Trump Sex Scandals

Convicted Sex Trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell Gives A Warm Shout-Out To Trump

Having been convicted of child sex trafficking and sentenced to 20 years in prison, Ghislaine Maxwell is finally starting to speak out and discuss the choices she made over the years that resulted in her being incarcerated.

Speaking with Daphne Barak of The Daily Mail, Maxwell noted that she felt terrible for her “dear friend” Prince Andrew.

“Yes, I follow what is happening to him,’ Maxwell confirms. “He is paying such a price for the association with Jeffrey Epstein. I care about him, and I feel so bad for him.”

Asked about remarks former president Donald Trump made in which he wished her well, Maxwell praised the ex-president:

“He dared, while others didn’t,” is how she puts it today. “I was very touched that he would remember me and that he would wish me well. And I was very touched by his remembrance of me.”

She adds: “I think anybody who says anything remotely, either positive and/or generous about me seems to attract a lot of negative interest.

“And in fact, President Trump is famous for thinking and saying what is on his mind like whenever he says it. So I was just very touched, as I said. I appreciate it. It gave me a big boost during such a time.”

Maybe Trump gave Maxwell such a “big boost” because he was once BFFs with Epstein, saying this about the late alleged sex trafficker with a taste for underage girls:

“I’ve known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy,” Mr. Trump told New York magazine in 2002. “He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.”

And the ex-president also reportedly worried that Maxwell might tell prosecutors things about him, according to a recent book:

According to a new book by Maggie Haberman of the New York Times, Trump asked “campaign advisers … ‘You see that article in the [New York] Post today that mentioned me?’

“He kept going, to silence. ‘She say anything about me?’”

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Congress GOP Sex Scandals

Comedian Nikki Glaser Burns Matt Gaetz Down With Hilarious NSFW Monologue

Comedian Nikki Glaser was guest host on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” Thursday evening, and as part of her monologue she gave her take on prominent American political figures in both parties.

HuffPost reports that Glaser began with failed, one-term former president Donald Trump:

“What can you say about Donald Trump that he hasn’t already heard at this point? Oh, I know! ‘Yes I’d love to have sex with you.'”

Vice President Kamala Harris was next:

“I know we’re having fun right now, but on a serious note I do want to say Kamala Harris is still missing. If you have any information on her whereabouts please contact her parents. They miss her. We don’t, but they do.”

The most biting lines were saved for Republicans in Congress, including Sens. Lindsey Graham (SC) and Ted Cruz (TX), along with Reps. Matt Gaetz (FL) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA).

Gaetz got the most brutal (and accurate) roasting, with Glaser noting:

“Look at him: What a ladies’ man, right? No, I’m sorry, I mean, what a child’s man … You’d think he’d have better hair for someone so good at grooming.”

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Crime GOP Sex Scandals

‘Methodical’ Prosecutor Preparing Airtight Case Against Matt Gaetz – Indictments Expected After Midterms

Despite the legal cloud hanging over him, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) won his primary on Tuesday and will be on the ballot in November. He is also expected to win re-election.

But that victory will likely be pyrrhic, as a new report from The Daily Beast reveals the main federal prosecutor working on the sex trafficking case against Gaetz is being incredibly “methodical” and is expected to unseal any indictments against the congressman after the midterm elections.

Lyle Mazin, a criminal defense attorney who represents a witness in the case, told The Daily Beast that the quiet should not be misconstrued as reluctance on the part of Roger Handberg, a federal prosecutor who led the local team conducting the investigation and now leads the Florida Middle District U.S. Attorney’s Office.

“He’s methodical. He doesn’t let anything go,” Mazin said. “If you’re going after a monster, you have to get it right—especially when you have a bunch of Trump supporters who’ll come after you.”

Indictments and plea deals have already been reached with key figures in the sex trafficking probe, and the person who can do the most damage to Gaetz — former Seminole County tax collector Joel Greenberg, who is known as Gaetz’s “wingman” — continues to provide a road map that investigators are following as they get closer to charging the congressman.

Any charges, however, won’t be filed before the election on November 8:

That day, if it comes, is likely still months off. Two attorneys said prosecutors will take extreme steps to avoid the appearance of interfering with the midterms, and expected any announcements involving Gaetz would likely come several weeks after the November election.

The slow nature of the investigation has frustrated some who are cooperating with prosecutors, though they say they remain optimistic the delay will result in making sure Gaetz pays the price for his alleged crimes:

“We know for a fact that there are dozens of other actors who were involved in drug-fueled sex parties with underage girls and other criminal financial schemes. If at the end of the day only two or three people are held to account by the feds, that would be a real miscarriage of justice and transparency,” said David Bear, an Orlando attorney who has advised several people who would consider themselves victims of Greenberg’s abuse of power while in office.

 

After he was victorious on Tuesday, Gaetz told family and friends he expected to win in November and return to the House where he would be part of a group of “Republicans with a will to fight and a backbone.”

But even if he is re-elected, Gaetz is facing a “fight” that will take a hell of a lot more than backbone and fiery rhetoric to win.

 

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Congress Crime GOP Sex Scandals

Noted Florida Republican Eviscerates ‘Shameful’ Matt Gaetz For Using Supporter’s Money To Exploit Underage Girls

A noted Florida Republican politician used an op-ed to destroy Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) for allegedly engaging the “shameful” crime of sexually trafficking underage girls.

Writing in The Pensacola News Journal, Mark Lombardo notes that his father gave money to Gaetz, only to see it used for defense attorneys the congressman had to hire in order to try and fend off allegations that he slept with underage girls and then paid them:

“Like all of Matt Gaetz’s donors, my dad trusted him to use that money to further conservative ideals. Had my father known that Gaetz would use his money to pay pedophile Jeffrey Epstein’s attorney, he would have never given him a penny.”

Yes, Gaetz did indeed hire an attorney who once worked for Epstein, as The Washington Post reported in June of last year:

Rep. Matt Gaetz’s campaign paid $25,000 in June to a Manhattan criminal defense attorney who lists Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex offender who killed himself in prison, as a notable client, according to a filing Thursday with the Federal Election Commission.

The June payment, for legal consulting, went to the law office of Marc Fernich, whose website says he specializes in “subtle, novel and creative arguments that other attorneys may miss.”

Lombardo goes on to explain that many voters feel betrayed by Gaetz:

“Gaetz broke my dad’s, and thousands of other donors’ trust when he used their money to pay the attorney most known for defending the world’s worst child-sex trafficker. To think that money my dad earned as a decorated combat veteran on the field of battle went to Gaetz’s sex-trafficking defense infuriates me and my family.

“In addition, knowing Gaetz raises money from elderly and working-class people under the deception of making America great and then uses that money for defending himself against charges that have nothing to do with his work in Congress or campaign, is shameful. It’s a total betrayal of trust.”

Perhaps most troubling of all, Lombardo says, is that Gaetz serves on the House Armed Services Committee, and his alleged illegal sexual predilections made him susceptible to blackmail by a hostile foreign government:

“An even bigger betrayal is that Gaetz put himself into a position that he needed a sex-trafficking defense attorney while serving on the Congressional Armed Services Committee.

“As a member of the Committee, Gaetz has access to Top Secret, classified information. Anyone who has worked in national security or for the military knows that engaging in prostitution, orgies, sex trafficking, and illegal drug use while holding a security clearance leaves them vulnerable to blackmail by foreign intelligence agents. This is especially true for senior government officials who partake in illicit activities on foreign soil – like Gaetz is reported to have done.”

Even though Gaetz is likely headed for re-election in November, his days in Congress are probably limited, as the Justice Department is expected to file charges against the congressman that, if he’s found guilty, could send him to prison for the rest of his life.