Tag: sex trafficking

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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.

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GOP

Former Chief Of Staff To Mike Pence Destroys Matt Gaetz: ‘He’ll Be In Prison’ By 2024

Marc Short was chief of staff to Vice President Mike Pence from 2019 to 2021, and recently appeared before a grand jury investigating the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S Capitol.

Short is also now a hero to millions for comments he made Monday evening on CNN regarding Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), who said disparaging things about Pence at a conservative conference over the weekend.

HuffPost notes that Gaetz slighted Pence by suggesting he would never be president:

During a speech at the Turning Point USA Student Action Summit in Tampa, Florida, on Saturday, Gaetz told the cheering crowd that “Our America is proudly ultra-MAGA, not some low-energy roadside RINO safari.” (RINO, one of Trump’s favorite terms for Republicans who won’t do his bidding, stands for “Republican in name only.”)

“On that note, let me just say what everybody here knows. Mike Pence will never be president,” Gaetz continued. “Nice guy; not a leader.”

That led Short to tell host Erin Burnett:

“Well, I don’t know if Mike Pence will run for president in 2024,” Short told CNN’s Erin Burnett. “But I don’t think Matt Gaetz will have an impact on that. In fact, I’d be surprised if he was still voting. It’s more likely he’ll be in prison for child sex trafficking by 2024. And I’m actually surprised that Florida law enforcement still allows him to speak to teenage conferences like that. So I’m not too worried about Matt Gaetz, thanks.”

Damn! That burn is going to leave one hell of a scar.

Of course, what Short said is more than likely true, as Gaetz is under investigation for allegedly being involved in the sexual trafficking and statutory rape of an underage girl in his home state of Florida.

Thanks to the testimony of former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson, we also know that Gaetz sought a pardon from President Donald Trump in the closing days of the administration, partially for his role in the January 6 attack on the Capitol and also for other illegal acts, with Hutchinson noting that Gaetz requested a blanket pardon that would cover “any and all things.”

If convicted of sexually trafficking an underage girl, Gaetz could face life in prison.

Categories
Congress GOP Sex Scandals

Latest Court Filing Is The Worst Possible News For Matt Gaetz

As Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz (FL) prepares to steer a course for his reelection effort in November, an ominous new court filing in the Sunshine State is certain to have him and his attorneys very worried, as the lead witness against him is making it clear that he is naming names and not leaving anyone out of the rapidly expanding sex trafficking scandal that threatens to send Gaetz to federal prison for the rest of his life.

According to Newsweek, the filing suggests that federal investigators are determined to get to the bottom of not only any alleged crimes Gaetz may have committed, but also those of anyone even remotely associated with him:

Joel Greenberg, an associate of Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz, has highlighted his cooperation with numerous investigations ahead of his sentencing for child sex trafficking crimes being set.

Greenberg is facing 12 years in jail after he pleaded guilty to six federal crimes, including sex trafficking of a child, identity theft, stalking, wire fraud, and conspiracy to bribe a public official.

Prior to his sentencing date, Greenberg’s lawyer filed a motion on Tuesday asking a judge for permission to submit additional information to the court under seal related to his cooperation in other criminal investigations.

Of special concern to Gaetz and others in his orbit is this line from Greenberg’s attorney, Fritz Scheller:

“Pursuant to his plea agreement with the Government and to mitigate the significant penalties he faces, Mr. Greenberg has been cooperating with federal prosecutors in active investigations currently being conducted by the United States Attorney’s Office in the Middle District of Florida and the Department of Justice in Washington D.C. as well as in other jurisdictions.”

The “other jurisdictions” reference is certain to send a chill up the spine of Gaetz and anyone who has been associated with him over the past few years because it suggests the investigation could wind up ensnaring other members of Congress who have even tangential ties to Gaetz.

Greenberg alleges that he and Gaetz had sex with multiple underage girls who were then given cash or gifts in exchange. Since they also allegedly took those girls across state lines, they committed the federal crime of sexually trafficking minors. The penalty for that offense can be as severe as life imprisonment.

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Crime Sex Scandals Social Media WTF?!

Twitter Erupts With Laughter And Disgust After Matt Gaetz Says Sexual Predators Must Be Punished

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.

HuffPost reports:

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!”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMorCe6zJ7c&feature=emb_logo

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 Combating Human Trafficking in Commercial Vehicles Act passed the Senate by unanimous consent in September 2017. When the House passed the bill in December 2017, Gaetz was the only no vote. President Donald Trump signed the bill into law in January 2018.

The Florida Republican was so pleased with his speech on Monday that he posted a video of it on his Twitter account:

That was all it took for social media to punch back at Gaetz.

https://twitter.com/sonnycharette/status/1490828715080646658?s=20&t=eeRXJNeeDuurPjMiWEEcSQ