Tag: Matt Gaetz

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Elections GOP Impeachment

Matt Gaetz Lets The Cat Out Of The Bag On GOP Talk Of Impeaching Joe Biden

 

Even as House Republicans continue to proclaim on a daily basis that they have “proof” of crimes committed by President Joe Biden that warrant impeachment, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) admitted that the real reason for all the GOP talk of impeachment is nothing more than a political ploy.

Appearing on a right-wing radio show, Gaetz remarked:

“I worked very hard in January to develop a toolkit for House Republicans to use in a productive and positive way. I don’t believe we’ve used those tools as effectively as we should have. We’ve got to seize the initiative. That means forcing votes on impeachment. And if Speaker McCarthy stands in our way, he may not have the job long. Let’s hope he works with us, not against us.”

A toolkit, huh? That’s certainly on-point considering that Gaetz is one of the biggest tools on the planet.

Since McCarthy has such a narrow majority in the House, it’s very possible that hardliners like Gaetz will eventually get their way on a formal vote regarding opening an impeachment inquiry, even though they have no evidence whatsoever to warrant such a move.

Not long after Gaetz made his comments, White House spokesperson Ian Sams fired back:

“On the heels of openly admitting the goal of impeachment isn’t to get to the truth but instead to damage the President politically, Matt Gaetz is yet again confirming that House Republicans’ evidence-free impeachment stunt is being driven by the demands of the most extreme, far-right members of Congress. Last week, Marjorie Taylor Greene threatened to shut down the government if she didn’t get an impeachment vote, and now Gaetz is threatening to potentially oust Speaker McCarthy if he doesn’t give them what they want. If Speaker McCarthy opens an impeachment inquiry simply to throw red meat to the right wing, it will yet again prove this is nothing more than a costly, illegitimate, politically-motivated exercise not rooted in reality.”

Gaetz and his extremist colleagues in Congress are trying to protect their political savior, Donald Trump, by muddying the waters in a desperate effort to distract from his four indictments (with more possibly on the way) as polling shows independent voters saying they cannot vote for Trump in light of the crimes he’s accused of.

The desperation among the GOP is so palpable that now they’re saying the quiet part out loud.

 

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Congress GOP

House Ethics Committee Investigating Matt Gaetz For Sexual Misconduct And Illegal Drug Use

 

Though he managed to not be criminally charged for allegedly engaging in the sexual trafficking of underage girls, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) is once again under investigation by the House Ethics Committee for possible sexual misconduct and illegal drug use.

CNN reports the committee’s investigation — which started in 2021 — has been revived after it was shut down when Republicans narrowly took control of the House of Representatives after the 2022 midterm election.

A source familiar with the House panel’s work told CNN that the Justice Department’s decision not to bring charges against Gaetz does not impact what the committee will and won’t investigate. The committee plans to examine the same allegations they were looking into when they opened the investigation in 2021, the source told CNN.

The Ethics Committee, which at the time was controlled by Democrats, originally opened an investigation in 2021, publicly announcing that they were examining a range of allegations including that Gaetz violated sex trafficking laws, shared inappropriate images or videos on the House floor, converted campaign funds to personal use and accepted a bribe, among other claims.

Gaetz insisted he wasn’t worried about being under investigation yet again.

“The Ethics Committee typically operates through leaks and so this is no surprise, but the Ethics Committee has never found me to be in violation of House rules, though they’ve been investigating me during my entire seven years in Congress,” he said. “It’s also funny that the one guy who doesn’t take the corrupt lobbyist and PAC money seems to be under the most Ethics investigation.”

The Florida Republican, you may recall, was suspected of having committed some very serious federal crimes.

The investigation into Gaetz came after allegations emerged that the he had sex with a 17-year-old girl. The Justice Department investigated to determine if Gaetz had paid or illegally trafficked the girl to have sex. His ex-girlfriend was granted immunity in exchange for her testimony to a federal grand jury. 

Had Gaetz been charged and found guilty of sexually trafficking an underage girl, he could have been sentenced to life in prison.

Gaetz also reportedly asked failed ex-president Donald Trump for a pardon in the final days of the administration.

 

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Congress GOP

Matt Gaetz Tries To Give Marjorie Taylor Greene A Nickname And It Backfires Badly

Georgia Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene has been extremely busy lately. She hasn’t been doing anything productive, mind you, but she has filed or promised to file articles of impeachment against Attorney General Merrick Garland, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, FBI Director Chris Wray, and Matthew Graves, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia.

Graves was testifying before a congressional committee when Greene announced she would seek to have him removed from office, which won’t happen because there aren’t enough votes in the House to impeach any of the people she’s targeted.

Despite, that Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) praised Greene on Twitter, giving her a new nickname.

MAGA Queen? Is that supposed to be a compliment? If so, plenty of Twitter users were quick to remind Gaetz that there were more applicable nicknames for the Georgia Republican and her moronic antics.

 

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GOP Gun Crime Gun Nuts WTF?!

Matt Gaetz: There Were No Mass Shootings When Automatic Weapons And ‘Cannons’ Were Legal

As the country reels from yet another mass shooting — this time in Louisville, Kentucky on Monday — Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) is suggesting that fully automatic weapons and “cannons” should be declared legal because when they were, mass shootings were nonexistent.

On his Firebrand podcast, Gaetz began with the right-wing’s favorite bullshit tactic whenever there’s mass deaths from gun violence: Thoughts and prayers.

“This morning, we were made aware yet again of another shooting, this time at a bank in Louisville, Kentucky. We, of course want to take time to mourn the loss of innocent life, but we should not wait in acting to prevent these frequent aggressive acts from happening in the future.”

From there, the Florida Republican asserted that gun control is actually the problem, not the solution.

“Your grandparents used to be able to order mail-order automatic weapons, and when the Second Amendment was written, the American people, such as they were, could own cannons. No mass shootings back then.”

That’s simply not true, but it shouldn’t surprise anyone that Gaetz doesn’t know what he’s talking about.

The National Firearms Act, which outlawed automatic weapons, was enacted in 1934. Why? To stop mass shootings by gangs involved in bootlegging and organized crime, as NPR has reported:

In the 1920s and ’30s, the U.S. was dealing with a different kind of gun violence epidemic: a massive increase in organized crime, fueled by Prohibition.

Gangsters, like Al Capone, were making big money trafficking illegal alcohol. And a key weapon in their arsenal was the machine gun.

“Those criminals from the mob took advantage of the rise of the portable machine gun, capable of firing multiple rounds of ammunition with the single pull of a trigger,” says Adam Winkler, a professor at UCLA’s school of law and author of Gunfight: The Battle Over The Right to Bear Arms in America.

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China Congress GOP WTF?!

Matt Gaetz Gets Shredded When He Quotes From A Chinese ‘Propaganda’ Publication: Video

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) thoroughly humiliated himself during a session of the House Armed Services Committee on Tuesday, quoting from a Chinese state-run publication to “prove” that U.S. aid to Ukraine was being used improperly.

Gaetz was questioning Colin H. Kahl, Under Secretary of Defense, and he asked the official:

“How about CIA? Are they training folks in Ukraine?”

Kahl replied:

“Not going to talk about that in an unclassified setting. Happy to talk about that further in the classified briefings.”

Gaetz then inquired, “Is the Azov battalion getting access to U.S. weapons?”

Kahl:

“Not that I’m aware of, but. If you have information…”

The Florida Republican announced:

“I intend to enter into the record The Global Times investigative report that talks about training. It’s from the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensics Research Lab. Citing the Azov battalion was even getting stuff as far back as 2018.”

After the article had been entered into the record, Gaetz asked Kahl:

“Any reason to disagree with that assessment?”

Kahl responded:

“Is this the, I’m sorry, is this the Global Times from China?”

Gaetz: “No, this is…”

Kahl: “Well, that’s what you read.”

Clearly unsure of what he had read, Gaetz was forced to admit, “Yeah, it might be, yeah. Would that be a reason?”

Kahl told the congressman:

“I as a general matter, I don’t take Beijing’s propaganda at face value.”

Rather than move on, Gaetz asked Kahl: “Yeah. Just tell me if. If the allegation is true or false, I mean.”

Kahl reiterated what he had just said:

“I don’t have any evidence one way or the other. As a general matter, I don’t take Beijing’s propaganda at face value.”

Before moving on to another topic, Gaetz remarked:

“Fair, fair enough. I would agree with that assessment.”

Could it be any clearer that Matt Gaetz is a complete idiot?