Gaetz gets his own thread.
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Wow, Fetterman... reminds me of an @Aqua-Letifer response if I've ever heard one.
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Long read, and I skimmed it. Make of it what you will.
Getting to the Bottom of Matt Gaetz’s Nomination and Withdrawal
It appears that this is as close as we’ll get to the real Matt Gaetz story: his acquaintance, the former tax collector Joel Greenberg, was caught abusing his office to make fake IDs and concealed weapons permits, which led to the discovery of numerous crimes committed by Greenberg in office, financed with money he embezzled and revolving around prostitution and, apparently, trafficking minors to public figures. Greenberg told Barr’s DOJ he could implicate Gaetz in exchange for leniency, and the present investigation into Gaetz was opened.
Gaetz’s father Don was then approached by “former” DOJ attorneys and told they could make his problems go away if he gave $25 million to fund the rescue of American hostage Bob Levinson from Iran. Bob Kent would lead the rescue mission, and the payment would appear to be for a service, rather than a bribe to prosecutors...
Greenberg fabricated state IDs for numerous “young women,” but we’re not told how young or for what purpose. Why did he hold thousands of self-incriminating records for years after? Was he running an entrapment operation?
Lt. Col. (retired) Tony Shaffer says this is a common practice:
Something we’ve known ... here in Washington, is that there are overlapping interests which will use criminal networks such as pedophiles for political purposes. I don’t know if you’re familiar with the term “brownstoning.” Brownstoning is where you have the traditional honeypot, you may have a Congressman enticed to sleep with a female ... what they do then is to try and get you in bed with an underage girl, telling you she’s only 20. And then they videotape that, then you are theirs.
So this brownstoning thing has become something we need to examine as a methodology that’s been used, I believe effectively, to subvert political figures here in town.
Looking closer at the $25-million extortion, we can see more or less what they tried to do. They set Matt up, apparently failed to acquire kompromat, and then (I think) made up stories of what would have happened if it had worked based on their experience with other public figures.
It’s possible that Matt fell for it, and they want to put him in line without expending the actual blackmail. If that’s the case, then they managed to keep him out of the A.G. office without expending it. But the trajectory so far is remarkably similar to the Bragg-Merchan case against Trump, which was also spearheaded by the DOJ indicting a third party (Michael Cohen).
Either way, the investigation would have ruined Gaetz’s life just by airing the allegations publicly, and they sent lawyers to solicit a bribe to make it go away. Had the Gaetzes “made it go away,” there’d be no guarantee the charges wouldn’t resurface later, if Matt got out of line, and that appears to be the point. Greenberg would get a reduced sentence, and the Deep State would be able to leverage Matt any time they wanted, because then he’d be guilty of bribery on top of the underlying charges with the 17-year-old, and paying the bribe would evidence his guilt on those charges.
So it was never about the money; it was about controlling Congress, and the $25 million was a down payment, after which Matt Gaetz would pay them with his votes.
Remember Schumer's comments?
Link to video -
Former Rep. Matt Gaetz's bid for attorney general may have been short-lived, but he appears to have his sights set on another big career move.
In a Saturday tweet, Florida State Rep. Anthony Sabatini posted on X his prediction that Gaetz would be the next governor of Florida. Gaetz responded to Sabatini with a gif of the Florida state flag.
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https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckg1d9pzjkno
A draft of the report seen by the BBC's US partner CBS News - described as a final version - reportedly says there is "substantial evidence" that Gaetz broke state laws relating to sexual misconduct while in office.
Gaetz, 42, has repeatedly denied wrongdoing, saying he is the victim of a smear campaign. He has not commented on the latest developments.
The 37-page draft seen by CBS is quoted as saying: "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 favours or privileges, and obstruction of Congress."
From 2017 to 2020, Gaetz made payments totalling more than $90,000 (£72,000) to 12 different women "that the Committee determined were likely in connection with sexual activity and/or drug use", CBS quotes the draft as saying.
The draft also reportedly contains testimony that Gaetz paid for sex with a 17-year-old at a party in 2017, giving her $400 "which she understood to be payment for sex". Gaetz has denied having sex with a minor.
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https://ethics.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Committee-Report.pdf
• From at least 2017 to 2020, Representative Gaetz regularly paid women for engaging in sexual activity with him.
• In 2017, Representative Gaetz engaged in sexual activity with a 17-year-old girl.
• During the period 2017 to 2019, Representative Gaetz used or possessed illegal drugs, including cocaine and ecstasy, on multiple occasions.
• Representative Gaetz accepted gifts, including transportation and lodging in connection with a 2018 trip to the Bahamas, in excess of permissible amounts.
• In 2018, Representative Gaetz arranged for his Chief of Staff to assist a woman with whom he engaged in sexual activity in obtaining a passport, falsely indicating to the U.S. Department of State that she was a constituent.
• Representative Gaetz knowingly and willfully sought to impede and obstruct the Committee’s investigation of his conduct.
• Representative Gaetz has acted in a manner that reflects discreditably upon the House.
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Maybe he misunderstood when Trump said he wanted the country to invest in miners.
