Congressman Matt Gaetz of Florida has made a name for himself by backing former President Trump and by standing up for conservatives.
But his time in Congress could soon be coming to an end, as new details come out in the sex scandal allegations against him.
Gaetz says all the accusations are part of a blackmail scheme by a former Department of Justice (DOJ) employee who is trying to extort his family for $25 million.
But the latest allegations could be hard for Gaetz to deny, since the feds have the receipts.
Literally.
The Latest Accusations Against Gaetz
According to the DOJ, payments have been found going from Gaetz to multiple women in exchange for sex. According to investigators, the women were paid online and traveled with Gaetz in exchange for money and gifts, and were procured by former Seminole County tax collector Joel Greenberg, who was indicted in 2020 for child sex trafficking and other crimes.
According to investigators, Gaetz and Greenberg also shared around one of the women they were both sleeping with to have sex with another high up Florida Republican.
Receipts on Cash App and Apple Pay show multiple payment from Gaetz and Greenberg to that woman and another young lady. Both women had told their friends that they were having sex with Greenberg and Gaetz for the past several years.
The two men would get the ladies to meet them at hotels in Florida and have sex with them, including alleged occasions in which Gaetz used the drug ecstasy before copulation.
Gaetz denies ever paying for sex, however legally speaking most escorts and sex workers take voluntary “donations” that are supposedly unrelated to the sex in order to get around this loophole, so as a skilled lawyer Gaetz could very well simply be using this technicality to phrase his denial.
Even if he gave gifts to women and paid for their flights – including allegations one was only 17 at the time – Gaetz can always argue that the accompanying sex was consensual and unrelated to any financial aid he gave the women if it is exposed.
Explosive new information in the investigation of Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz.
The New York Times reports Rep. Gaetz is suspected of paying cash and using drugs in sexual encounters with women.@CBS_Herridge has more. pic.twitter.com/OJw08TteaW
— CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) April 2, 2021
‘I’ve Paid for Flights, for Hotel Rooms’
Gaetz says that money he’s paid to women is just par for the course as a romantic and thoughtful guy.
“I have definitely, in my single days, provided for women I’ve dated. You know, I’ve paid for flights, for hotel rooms. I’ve been, you know, generous as a partner. I think someone is trying to make that look criminal when it is not,” Gaetz said.
What he’s saying is possible and we must always keep the principle of innocent until proven guilty. If Gaetz was really trying to do shady stuff why pay directly on Cash App and Apple Pay? He’s a smart guy, after all.
On the other hand, payments to someone like Greenberg in any way indicate highly questionable judgment and very suspicious behavior.
Gaetz also built up a reputation in Congress for bragging about his sexual conquests to his buddies, even showing topless photos to other Congressional friends.
The fact of the matter is that we all know people like former President Bill Clinton have done far worse than what Gaetz is accused of doing. If he’s guilty he should resign and potentially face prosecution for the underage sex, but we should also not pretend that this investigation and the media hype would be happening if Gaetz were a prominent Democrat.
If you bring up Democratic Governor Andrew and his sex scandal keep in mind that it was allowed to get big as a way to distract from Cuomo’s far more serious crime of putting COVID patients into old folks homes.
What do you think? Did Gaetz do it? What should happen to him next?
