Posted on 04/02/2021 7:28:03 PM PDT by RandFan
A defiant Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) says he has no plans to resign from Congress amid a federal investigation into whether he paid women — and a 17-year-old girl — for sexual favors.
Yet behind the scenes, a growing number of Gaetz’s Republican colleagues are predicting his days on Capitol Hill are growing short.
“In reality, yes, he won’t last long,” one member told The Hill on Friday.
The forecasts seem to be based on some combination of political pragmatism and wishful thinking.
Gaetz, who stands among the fiercest defenders of former President Trump, is no stranger to controversy, but the latest allegations — which have stemmed from a broader sex trafficking investigation involving the prostitution of minors — are by far the most serious. And Gaetz’s flair for flamboyant confrontation — he recently flew to Wyoming to stage a rally against GOP Rep. Liz Cheney on her home turf — has endeared him to pro-Trump conservatives outside the Beltway, but has also made him plenty of enemies within his own party.
Former Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-Va.) called this week for Gaetz’s removal following the new reports of the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) investigation.
“This — now, even more ever,” she tweeted, referring to her biting assertion in January that Gaetz “should not be a member of Congress.”
Others are more quietly distancing themselves from the embattled three-term Floridian, with Rep. David Valadeo (R-Calif.) opting to donate the 2020 campaign contributions he received from Gaetz to an organization that supports the victims of domestic abuse, a move first reported Friday by Axios.
Most of Gaetz’s Republican colleagues have remained silent following the news of the DOJ probe — at least publicly. And GOP lawmakers said that trend will likely continue unless Gaetz is indicted.
Still, those same voices are quick to add that Gaetz faces huge challenges in rehabilitating his image given the severity of the allegations against him. Several members referred to the scandal as “bizarre,” with one telling The Hill bluntly: “It sounds really bad.”
“My bar is always: charges filed. But if these [allegations] are true, the status of his committee assignments and congressional seat are the least of his concerns,” another lawmaker said, referring to the potential for criminal charges.
Through it all, Gaetz has maintained his innocence. The 38-year-old firebrand has vehemently denied any wrongdoing, asserting that he has not had any inappropriate relationships with a minor and has never paid for sex.
“It is a horrible allegation and it is a lie. The New York Times is running a story that I have traveled with a 17-year-old woman and that is verifiably false. People can look at my travel records and see that that is not the case. What is happening is an extortion of me and my family,” he said during an appearance on "Tucker Carlson Tonight" on Tuesday.
On Friday, Gaetz shot down rumors that he was stepping down from his seat, telling The Hill it’s “very safe” to say that he has no plans to resign from Congress.
Gaetz says that he is the victim in the unsavory saga, arguing that he and his father, a former president of the Florida state Senate, have been targeted by several men, including a former DOJ official, seeking funds to rescue Robert Levinson, a former CIA agent who went missing in Iran in 2007. Gaetz claims those men sought to extort $25 million from his father in exchange for having any looming charges against the younger Gaetz dropped.
“I know that there was a demand for money in exchange for a commitment that he could make this investigation go away along with his co-conspirators,” Gaetz told Carlson.
In interviews with various news outlets this week, all three men implicated by Gaetz have denied any involvement in an extortion effort.
“He’s trying to distract attention from a pending tidal wave that is about to sink his ship,” David McGee, the former DOJ official, told The New York Times.
Members of leadership in both parties have acknowledged the gravity of the allegations, with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) saying that Gaetz would be removed from his committee assignments if the accusations are proven true.
“Those are serious implications. If it comes out to be true, yes, we would remove him if that's the case,” he told Fox News on Wednesday. “But right now Matt Gaetz says that it's not true and we don't have any information. So let's get all the information.”
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said she believes the House Ethics Committee should launch a probe into the matter.
“If, in fact, these allegations are true, of course being removed from the Judiciary Committee is the least that could be done,” Pelosi said on a press call Thursday. “But again, I think from what we've heard so far, this would be a matter for the Ethics Committee.”
While Gaetz says he has no intention of resigning while the investigation continues, some members of his staff are having different thoughts. On Friday, Luke Ball, Gaetz's communication director, resigned from the office.
this Cheney woman.. who uses that last name for recognition ....who voted against President Trump ... and was kept in her position by other weak republicans.. has yet to face her own state in another election... her inherited elitist fingers went to work on someone who dares to stand for right and country.
I keep reading he is alleged to have had sex with a 17 year old “girl.” To me “girl” implies somebody incapable of making major decisions on their own behalf. Not someone one year (at the most) away from legal adulthood.
She is going down don’t worry about that
That darkness looks the same as other countries where God and freedom has been removed and an evil dictatorship rules over the people.
with Trump ousted from the oval office by the hierarchy of darkness... we fight against rulers of darkness that seek to destroy any semblance of this Christian country that has been a light to the world.. fed the world .. defended the nations..and has been the greatest ... until the darkness and blindness has been allowed in high places ...against we the people....
He sent a boat to save us...
Did Feinstein resign for having a verified communist spy on her payroll? Did that other creep Farting Swalwell resign? Did Governor blackface resign?
Cardinal Richelieu reportedly said, “If you give me six sentences written by the most innocent of men I will find something in them with which to hang him.” Innocence is irrelevant. Tom Foley said, “Even though there is no evidence, the seriousness of the charge is what matters. The seriousness of the charge mandates that we investigate this.” The FBI has dirt on every member of Congress. If they don’t they can manufacture it. They can use Pelosi’s “wrap-up smear” with the media’s cooperation: “We call it the wrap-up smear. if anyone talks politics. . .We call it the wrap-up smear. You smear somebody with falsehoods and all the rest and then you merchandise it. And then you [the press] write it, and they’ll say, see it’s reported in the press that this this this and this. So they have that validation that the press reported the smear, and then it’s called the ‘wrap-up smear.’ And now I’m going to merchandise the press’s report on the smear that we made.” McConnell would rather have Democrats control the Senate than have Judge Moore elected.
Republicans? Oh! You mean RINOs. I wouldn’t worry about them. A lot of them won’t be in Congress after the next election.
In common language .. among girls, there is a peck order... who controls the narrative.. who controls the thinking...and the rest in the bunch follow.
3 siblings in the back seat of the car, work out who gets the window seats .. there is a peck order... acknowledged or not.
The peck order in Washington is.. the dems demand and the gop obliges.
Trump came along.. uninvited... and refused the peck order.. the media and the establishment demanded he acknowledge they have the “earned respect” and bow to their “wisdom”. .. in other words, the media and the establishment look down on the newcomer until he became one of them.
Trump didn’t come to join... he came to upright a tilted and falling country.
The rest is history... pray for our country and pray for President Trump and his family.
It would all go away if the the Government produces the dates that said travel was supposed to have occurred vs Gaetz’s travel records and who was with him on those dates.
Right now from other sources it appears Gaetz is not the direct target of the investigation but someone else that Gaetz was linked with. A question arose in the investigation and the Slimes paper published an article about a possible sex crime. We don’t have any info as to the dates, timings, who or what, or if the person was of legal age in the states where such travel occurred and able to legally consent(if it even happened at all).
I think this may be the “rap around smear” process being used to target the congressman.
Gaetz will have to stand strong and demand proof and dare the congress to remove him while mentioning Swal”lows” well and other congress folks who got “kid glove” treatment. If the congress tries to remove him he should bloody their noses when they do so, but only if he is innocent!
The 17 year old may now be of age 18 or more by now so she should be named or she should reveal herself if she herself felt wronged!
I think it was “paying for illegal travel” to facilitate sex with a minor but if in said states the minor was of consentable age and able to give consent, then other than adultery, what crime has Gaetz done? That is, if such was even done? Gaetz and his father refused to be blackmailed or was it, at least, the father refused to be blackmailed and wouldn’t cover for his son if the congressman had done something wrong?
Gaetz has more power in this situation than anyone suspects. He can sit back and say, “Present your evidence, but here is where I was on such and such a date!”
t would all go away if the the Government produces the dates that said travel was supposed to have occurred vs Gaetz’s travel records and who was with him on those dates.
Right now from other sources it appears Gaetz is not the direct target of the investigation but someone else that Gaetz was linked with. A question arose in the investigation and the Slimes paper published an article about a possible sex crime. We don’t have any info as to the dates, timings, who or what, or if the person was of legal age in the states where such travel occurred and able to legally consent(if it even happened at all).
I think this may be the “rap around smear” process being used to target the congressman.
Gaetz will have to stand strong and demand proof and dare the congress to remove him while mentioning Swal”lows” well and other congress folks who got “kid glove” treatment. If the congress tries to remove him he should bloody their noses when they do so, but only if he is innocent!
The 17 year old may now be of age 18 or more by now so she should be named or she should reveal herself if she herself felt wronged!
I think it was “paying for illegal travel” to facilitate sex with a minor but if in said states the minor was of consentable age and able to give consent, then other than adultery, what crime has Gaetz done? That is, if such was even done? Gaetz and his father refused to be blackmailed or was it, at least, the father refused to be blackmailed and wouldn’t cover for his son if the congressman had done something wrong?
Gaetz has more power in this situation than anyone suspects. He can sit back and say, “Present your evidence, but here is where I was on such and such a date!”
If he committed a crime with an underaged girl, why hasn’t he been arrested? Unless or until there is actual evidence of a crime, he should not resign.
“””When Matt went to Cheney’s state to get them to censure her
I knew the Rino’s were going to get even.
I stand with Matt he is a true Floridian Gator.”””
I fully agree with your assessment that the RINO’s are getting even for Gaetz going to WY.
Internal politics are vicious.
For Noem it would make sense to hear what she has to say concerning men posing as women in sports at a special session of the SD congress that comes up soon. Why go after her now until all the info is heard?
As for Gaetz he claims he was part of an FBI sting on those trying to bribe him and his father. If that's the case he may well be exonerated.
One thing Matt should learn is that while Bubba and Hillary can literally kill people,rape people over and over in bubbas case and get away with it for years. The same is not true for our side. We get blasted in the press, jailed and thrown out of office if it just looks like we did something wrong.
The left is expected to act in a criminal manner. After all they are mostly all criminals. Not so for our side. There is a terrible double standard. Matt would do well to keep that in mind.
Mark Foley.
Having said that, I’d point out that his credibility took a huge hit when he was running around claiming to have the GOP votes he needed to dump Liz Cheney from her House leadership role, only to see her retain her post by a wide margin when the vote was actually held. At that point he became little more than a flamboyant clown with a big mouth who said all the right things but couldn’t deliver when it mattered.
I challenge you to name 2 or 3 Republicans that DON’T fit that description.
Never resign. This is Alinsky moves by leftists and their travelers.
Deep State backstabbers...
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