Matt Gaetz ethics report says his drug use and sex with a minor violated state laws
Matt Gaetz ethics report says his drug use and sex with a minor violated state laws
A report by the House Ethics Committee found former Rep. Matt Gaetz paid multiple women, including a 17-year-old girl, for sex.
From the report: “The Committee determined there is substantial evidence that Representative Gaetz violated House Rules and other standards of conduct prohibiting prostitution, statutory rape, illicit drug use, impermissible gifts, special favors or privileges, and obstruction of Congress.”
More: “The record overwhelmingly suggests that Representative Gaetz had sex with multiple women at a 2017 Florida party, including the then-17-year-old, for which they were paid… Victim A recalled receiving $400 in cash from Representative Gaetz that evening, which she understood to be payment for sex. At the time, she had just completed her junior year of high school. Victim A said that she did not inform Representative Gaetz that she was under 18 at the time, nor did he ask her age.”
Now it's time for Rapey to follow through on his oft made threats to out all the other republicans with sexual skeletons in their closets.
58Wasn't that Perjury Greene's threat?
17it's part of the skullduggery oath. kinda like "no honor among thieves", but more like "don't tread on me or I'll make sure everyone gets a good stomp".
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Pretty sure both of those things violate federal laws too. Not that laws matter with Donvict in charge.
48They didn't matter with Garland in charge and that's at least as big of a problem. Whoever manages to remove Trump from office needs to finally hold the whole criminal apparatus that has propped up the Republican party for decades accountable.
30I dont think there are comparable federal laws for rape. Human trafficking and wire fraud, sure but rape is dependant on the laws of the state. The Federal case was hampered by the lack of credible witnesses. The state of Florida will do nothing because DeSantis and Rapey are good friends.
14Not many people seem to know about the lack of witnesses and think dropping the case was garden variety corruption.
But! The (former) minor in question and his good buddy Joel have both been happily singing their little hearts out. Wish they had sung early enough to nail him, but I'm happy enough they finally talked. And boy did a bunch of other people talk!
4The committee said it did not find sufficient evidence Gaetz violated the federal sex trafficking statute because although he transported women across state lines for the purpose of sex, those women were all 18 or older at the time.
What exactly is the purpose of that federal sex trafficking law if it doesn't apply in this case!?
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The article I read earlier said he broke federal laws too. Yet I keep seeing the headline worded this way, seemingly to soften the truth. So fucking disgusting, this country
1The age of consent is 18 in only 10 states, Florida being one of them. And I'm certain you can't be nailed for past drug use. Also, they cleared him on interstate sex trafficking.
So what can we nail him for? Florida can surely proceed with statutory rape. Not sure what else. How about hiring prostitutes?
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At the time, she had just completed her junior year of high school.
18“The Committee received testimony that Victim A and Representative Gaetz had sex twice during the party, including at least once in the presence of other party attendees,”
Ew
12Dude is so gross...
I believe he doomed himself the moment he publicly mentioned Republican coke orgies. Because of that, I think he might actually see consequences. But maybe not. DeSantis will probably pardon him anyway.
10Rape really should not be pardonable at any level
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He was my Congressman, so I've been following closer than most. Holy shit did a pile of people throw him under the bus! My eyes were bugging out at all the dirt they shoveled up.
This article has even more:
https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/23/politics/matt-gaetz-house-ethics-report/index.html
LOL! They got texts and everything!
Gaetz is a rich frat boy that had never gotten in trouble. The second he got on the national stage he was showing other House members nude pics of the women he was banging. Anyone remember that? LOL, even the GOP wouldn't have him as AG, and the GOP sets a low bar.
14The GOP only turned on him because he talked about their secret coke orgies in public.
5Wow, I thought it was the closeted, gay cripple that doomed his career by talking about the secret drug orgies. It's so hard to remember which Republican stabbed the others in the back.
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In another text message exchange cited by the committee, Greenberg exchanged messages with a woman in September 2018, writing, “If you have a friend that is down, perhaps all four of us can meet up later.”
The woman responded she did have a friend who could meet up, adding, “I usually do $400 per meet.”
Greenberg responded by sending a photo of Gaetz holding out a phone and taking a selfie. “Oooh my friend thinks he’s really cute!” the woman responded.
“Well, he’s down here only for the day, we work hard and play hard,” Greenberg wrote. “Have you ever tried molly.”
. . . Committee investigators concluded that between 2017 to 2019, Gaetz “used or possessed illegal drugs, including cocaine and ecstasy, on multiple occasions.”
“There is substantial evidence that Representative Gaetz used cocaine, ecstasy, and marijuana. At least two women saw Representative Gaetz using cocaine and ecstasy at different events,” the committee wrote. “Additionally, nearly every witness interviewed observed Representative Gaetz using marijuana.”
4I know it's still illegal, but if he didn't know that's not nearly as salacious as what was suggested (I thought this was more than one, like a regular thing). I guess the rumors were hyped up. Or the evidence was not provable enough to document?
-8There's a huge difference between being told their age, and lying about it, and intentionally not asking for their age, knowing they're a junior in high school (the math is easy) so you have plausible deniability.
He was a Lawyer FFS. Of course he knows the tricks of the trade.
He absolutely knew they were underage. But because he explicitly didn't ask, and they explicitly didn't tell, he has plausible deniability.
You don't fuck around with "teens" and not ask their age/get verification if you're on the up and up. It's really fucking easy to ask for their age, or some form of ID to prove it so you avoid jail/legal repercussions.
Not doing that says a lot more about his intent than anything else in the article.
10I don't know Florida's law, but mine (and others) say things like "did knowingly, or was negligent in". If they met at a bar/club that's checking IDs, that would probably be ok. But I somehow doubt that's where he met the high schooler. High schoolers tend to associate with other high schoolers, in places full of high schoolers.
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In this particular situation, "didn't know" and "didn't care" are the same.
3The document found gaetz violated floridas statutory rape law.
The report found many laws broken, but the DOJ was not acting on any of the information during their investigation and it sounds like were not particularly helpful in the House Committee's investigation.
So just because gaetz wasn't charged with anything doesn't mean that he didn't break any laws. The house report and appendices have quite a bit of evidence in it including text conversations, interviews with victims, payment history, and more.
3A civil suit might be a winner.
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