Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) in Orlando, Florida on Saturday evening, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) suggested that Congress should have the power to make the Justice Department stop investigating him or anyone else for whatever disgusting crimes they may have committed.
Gaetz is currently under federal investigation for allegedly engaging in the sexual trafficking of an underage girl. If convicted, he could be sentenced to life in prison.
But if the Florida congressman has his way, the investigation would disappear:
“The Judiciary Committee should stop the DOJ from targeting political opponents whether they are parents, whether they are falsely labeled as extremists, or whether they are lawmakers engaged in the oversight of the DOJ.”
Gaetz also accused the FBI of “cheating worse than the Russian figure skating team.” However, he offered no proof for his specious allegation.
Gaetz: The Judiciary Committee should stop the DOJ from targeting political opponents whether they are parents, whether they are falsely labeled as extremists, or whether they are lawmakers engaged in the oversight of the DOJ pic.twitter.com/kDDMTiQSo6
"Gaetz: The Judiciary Committee should stop the DOJ from targeting political opponents"
What about if they are sexual predators? Does Gaetz think the DOJ shld refrain from investigating congressmen who prey on, traffic, & have group sex w/ minors & their wingmen in the Bahamas?
"The feds should also stop targeting what I like to call 'small business owners' who are falsely labeled sex traffickers even though there is a digital trail and multiple witnesses"
Something very strange is going on with Florida Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz, and it doesn’t bode well for how he’ll respond on the day indictments for child sex trafficking are handed down against him and he’s facing the prospect of life in prison.
Gaetz posted three tweets earlier today that on the surface seem like little more than a vapid commentary on a Newsweek article he came across with the title “All-male cheetah pack kill leader in bloody coup.”
That prompted the Florida congressman to follow-up with this:
Cheetahs and House Leadership races, huh? Well, the current leader of House Republicans is Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), who said Wednesday he agrees with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) that the January 6 attack on the Capitol was indeed “a violent insurrection.”
Asked McCarthy if he agreed it was a “violent insurrection,” as McConnell said, House GOP leader said: “Yeah. I agree. Anyone who broke into this building, I mean, no one would disagree with that.” He added: “The RNC was not referring to that” on legitimate political discourse
It’s tempting to say that Gaetz was aiming his tweets at McConnell, but he referenced “House Leadership races,” so that narrows down who he’s referring to.
No matter how you look at it, however, it sounds like a direct threat of some violent action that Gaetz is formulating, even though the chance he’ll still be a free man when such decisions are made is fading by the day, because another person with knowledge of the accusations against Gaetz has now entered a guilty plea and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors, according to Politico:
A Florida collectibles dealer connected to the federal investigation into Rep. Matt Gaetz formally entered a guilty plea in Orlando on Wednesday, marking another twist in the ongoing probe into the Republican congressman.
Joe Ellicott, known as “Big Joe,” pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiracy to commit fraud and drug charges and has agreed to cooperate with federal authorities. Ellicott is a relatively minor figure in the ongoing Gaetz probe but was listed on a federal grand jury subpoena in December 2020 along with Gaetz and several other men.
Here’s some free advice for Kevin McCarthy in light of the Gaetz’s tweets: You might want to increase your security detail and keep a close eye on the perv from Florida.
Like so many Republicans in the Age of Trump, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) has absolutely no shame, no remorse, and no discernable intellect.
If you doubt that, consider that Gaetz stood on the floor of the House of Representatives Monday and demanded that those who sexually harass others be held accountable for their actions.
Gaetz’s comments were made on the floor of the House in support of a bill that would end mandatory arbitration for workplace sexual harassment claims.
Here’s what Gaetz had the gall to say despite the fact that he’s currently under federal investigation for allegedly engaging in the sexual trafficking of an underage girl:
“Here is the question presented: Should sexual harassers who work for big businesses get to pick their juries in advance? I believe that the populist, nationalist right approach is to believe that the Article 3 courts, that we have set up for any and all, function as the proper venue. But for tens of millions of American workers, that courthouse door is locked!”
Keep in mind this is the same Matt Gaetz who was the only member of Congress to vote against an anti-human trafficking bill in 2017, Politifact has confirmed:
Gaetz really was the only vote against an anti-human trafficking bill that Trump signed into law. The reason he offered at the time was not on the bill’s substance, but in favor of limiting government.
The Florida Republican was so pleased with his speech on Monday that he posted a video of it on his Twitter account:
For the fourth consecutive year, I rise as one of the few but faithful Republicans in strong support of HR 4445, the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Harassment Act.https://t.co/WMyQz2h5yGpic.twitter.com/El4rMy7NMF
The single most important witness in the case against Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) has reached an immunity deal with federal prosecutors and agreed to testify against him, according to a report from NBC News, and that’s the surest sign yet the Florida congressman is indeed going to be indicted on charges of sexually trafficking underage girls, a crime which could potentially send Gaetz to prison for the rest of his life.
Recently, Gaetz’s former girlfriend testified before a federal grand jury, a move that one former prosecutor called “diabolical but brilliant.”
NBC senior national reporter Marc Caputo says that the latest testimony and plea deal suggests that the chances of Gaetz being indicted are significantly greater than they were a week ago:
“When this broke, the ex-girlfriend was talking to another woman who was talking to prosecutors that felt the woman may have recorded the call and may have patched in Matt Gaetz at the time and prosecutors suspect he tried to elicit or entice or suborn obstruction of justice and his ex-girlfriend may have participated in that. That was the basis of her getting an immunity deal; ‘don’t charge me for this and I’ll tell you the things you want to know.'”
Caputo then added:
“Exactly what she told them is key but what’s important to note here is that she’s an important bridge that unlocks the case or unstalls it. It was stuck in neutral. Now the case is clearly going forward. I can’t promise he’s going to be indicted but the chances are higher.”
The fact that the woman is Gaetz’s former paramour and not his wife is also significant, according to MSNBC legal analyst Danny Cevallos:
There are exactly zero “girlfriend” testimonial privileges. It doesn’t matter if the girlfriend has lived with the boyfriend for years. It doesn’t matter if they have kids together. A girlfriend is not a wife — but she is a potential gold mine for prosecutors. They have a witness who often knows the target as well as a spouse would, but who can be questioned, cajoled and subpoenaed without worrying about any of those pesky privilege barriers.
Gaetz was already in BIG trouble, but now he’s officially toast.
Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) has had quite enough of Republicans in Congress whining about the investigation of the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, and she absolutely obliterated one of them with comments she made during an appearance on MSNBC.
Speaking with host Jonathan Capehart, Waters was shown a clip of Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) holding forth a fact-free press conference recently.
“Well, you know, the world watched what happened and for them to try and rewrite history and to tell people, ‘don’t believe your lying eyes.'”
And then the California Democrat brought up the fact that Gaetz is under investigation for allegedly paying underage girls to have sex with him:
“He had better be concerned about what’s happening to him, he had better be concerned about, you know, the fact that he’s been investigated and then concerns about him and young girls and on and on and on. But absolutely, to get in our faces and talk about they had no intent of hurting anybody when we’ve got five of our Capitol police who are dead, 150 of them who have been harmed? We absolutely are going to have to resist, we’re going to have to fight and we can’t let them get away with it.”
Waters was far from finished, however, and she issued one final jab at Republicans:
“I want my party to rise to this occasion and not try and think that somehow we are going to be able to work something out with them. They have defined themselves as liars, people with no integrity and they are intent on protecting [Donald] Trump and they’re all afraid of him. They are not representing even their constituents so Gaetz needs to shut up.”
