PizzaGaetz?

[George K]

Gaetz sought pardon

Congressman Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) told a former White House aide that he was seeking a preemptive pardon from President Donald Trump regarding an investigation in which he is a target, according to testimony given to the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Johnny McEntee, according to people familiar with his testimony, told investigators that Gaetz told him during a brief meeting “that they are launching an investigation into him or that there’s an investigation into him,” without specifying who was investigating Gaetz.
McEntee added that Gaetz told him “he did not do anything wrong but they are trying to make his life hell, and you know, if the president could give him a pardon, that would be great.” Gaetz told McEntee that he had asked White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows for a pardon.

Asked by investigators if Gaetz’s ask for a pardon was in the context of the Justice Department investigation into whether Gaetz violated federal sex trafficking laws, McEntee replied, “I think that was the context, yes,” according to people familiar with the testimony who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.

The testimony is the first indication that Gaetz was specifically seeking a pardon for his own exposure related to the Justice Department inquiry into whether he violated sex trafficking laws. His public posture in the final months of the Trump administration was much less specific, repeatedly calling for broad preemptive pardons to fend off possible Democratic investigations.

[George K]

Prosecutors recommend no charges

Career prosecutors have recommended against charging Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) in a long-running sex-trafficking investigation — telling Justice Department superiors that a conviction is unlikely in part because of credibility questions with the two central witnesses, according to people familiar with the matter.
Senior department officials have not made a final decision on whether to charge Gaetz, but it is rare for such advice to be rejected, these people told The Washington Post, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the deliberations. They added that it is always possible additional evidence emerges that could alter prosecutors’ understanding of the case.
Nevertheless, it is unlikely that federal authorities will charge Gaetz with a crime in an investigation that started in late 2020 and focused on his alleged involvement with a 17-year-old girl several years earlier. Gaetz, 40, has repeatedly denied wrongdoing, saying he has never paid for sex. He has also said the only time he had sex with a 17-year-old was when he was also 17.

[Jolly]

Interesting...

[George K]

Gaetz is among the douchiest of the GOP. But if there's no fire making that smoke, you gotta wonder.

[Doctor Phibes]

@George-K said in PizzaGaetz?:

Gaetz is among the douchiest of the GOP. But if there's no fire making that smoke, you gotta wonder.

Maybe he's blowing it out of his ass?

I'm sure he's every bit as innocent as O. J. Simpson.

[George K]

@Doctor-Phibes said in PizzaGaetz?:

I'm sure he's every bit as innocent as O. J. Simpson.

At least OJ had charges filed and was found (cough) "not guilty" of the murders despite the mountains of evidence which the LAPD conspired to create.

They won't even bring charges here.

[Jolly]

He's a slimeball, but so what? He's got plenty of company where he works...

[George K]

@George-K said in PizzaGaetz?:

They won't even bring charges here.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/15/politics/matt-gaetz-justice-department

The Justice Department has informed lawyers for at least one witness that it will not bring charges against Florida GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz after a years-long federal sex-trafficking investigation, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Senior officials reached out to lawyers for at least one witness on Wednesday, the source tells CNN, to inform them of the decision not to prosecute Gaetz.

The final decision was made by Department of Justice leadership after investigators recommended against charges last year.

[George K]

As good a place as any to post this....

[89th]

I’m telling you, it should be known as Gaetzgate!