Tag: Matt Gaetz

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Congress GOP

Anti-McCarthy Republicans Are ‘In For A Rude Awakening’ Now That He’s Speaker: Report

Now that Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) has finally been elected Speaker of the House, what will become of the breakaway faction of Republicans who refused to support him and made the entire GOP caucus look like a clown car for 96 hours?

According to a former Republican strategist, members of Congress such as Reps. Lauren Boebert (CO) and Matt Gaetz (FL) can expect to pay a heavy price that may contribute to them not getting reelected in 2024.

Conservative campaign consultant Alice Stewart said Saturday on CNN that the first punishment for renegade members who wouldn’t support McCarthy will be less prestigious committee assignments.

“I don’t think there’s going to be as much under the Christmas tree for them in that regard as they seem to think. Speaking with a lot of members of the rational Republican group throughout the weekend, specifically late into the night last night, they were frustrated. They were angry. They felt this was completely unnecessary given the fact that every concession they had requested had been met and this was not a matter of policy, this was just about personality conflicts with Kevin McCarthy.”

She added:

“Here these people have gone in day-in and day-out for all the right reasons for the party and for policies, and you have people like [Rep. Matt] Gaetz and [Rep. Lauren] Boebert who are in a vanity project to raise money for the future. They do have the opportunity to decide who gets on which committee and where and, I can guarantee you, Alex, that they’re going to be quite selective in who gets on which committee.

“Certainly Matt Gaetz has his eye on the prize for a key committee assignment, but they’re going to be in for a rude awakening because their colleagues are frustrated with the fact that they have a job to do.”

If indeed Boebert and Gaetz do lose in the next election, all of the chaos they’ve cause might just have been worthwhile. And the fewer Republicans there are in Congress, the better off the country will be.

Here’s the video from CNN:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rsZacN04no

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Congress GOP Viral Video

WATCH: GOP Rep. Has To Be Restrained While Confronting Matt Gaetz During House Speaker Debate

On Friday evening, minutes after Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) had again denied House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (CA) the votes he needed in order to be elected Speaker of the House, another GOP congressman confronted Gaetz and had to be physically restrained, according to Mediaite.

With one vote to decide McCarthy’s fate, Gaetz could not bring himself to vote for the GOP leader after having spent all of two months campaigning for someone else to lead the 118th Congress.

Gaetz left the room when his name was called the first time around, and when he had a chance to vote for McCarthy when his name was called again, he shouted, “Present!”

The vote denied the California Republican the gavel and the GOP side of the House floor devolved into chaos. McCarthy charged up an aisle where he confronted Gaetz. The two exchanged words for several moments before McCarthy walked away.

McCarthy was finally elected Speaker on the 15th ballot, which suggests he will be the weakest House leader since the Civil War.

After video of Rogers confronting Gaetz hit social media, comments proliferated regarding what had just transpired.

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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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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.