People Are Asking: Is Matt Gaetz (Sex Predator-FL) The Biggest Asshole In Congress?

Gaetz has made— and keeps making— a lot of enemies in Congress… and generally speaking, they’re not even Democrats. Oh, most Democrats don’t like him but he’s really just another sleazy, slimy Republican to most of them. In fact, he’s even helpful to their cause since he gums up the works so badly that he turns off swing voters to the GOP, making it easier for Democrats to make a case to voters in swing districts.

But mainstream Republicans really hate him, more so than I’ve ever seen before. They see him as the guy who’s making it impossible for them to present themselves as a credible governing party. Many of them say he’s wrecked their majority and is guaranteeing that they’ll be in the minority next year. He’s also trying to dominate other members by using Trump-like bullying techniques— which generally don’t work. This week, when Gaetz made sure the media knew he would be campaigning in Illinois for Mike Bost’s primary opponent, Darren Bailey, Bost was asked if he considered Gaetz a threat Bost: “I never considered Matt a threat. I considered him an ass, but never a threat.”

On the other hand, Gaetz is widely given “credit” for ending Kevin McCarthy’s congressional career; that’s a big deal— and has turned scores of Republicans into die-hard Gaetz haters. Many people— especially Gaetz— see McCarthy’s hidden hand behind the Ethics Committee investigation that never ends. In fact, it was that threat against him that was the reason Gaetz finally moved so aggressively against McCarthy.

Yesterday, that investigation was seen moving a serious step closer to ruining Gaetz’s own career. Robert Draper and Michael Schmidt reported that Fritz Scheller, a lawyer for the chief witness against Gaetz, his former wingman, Joel Greenberg, said on Friday that Greenberg is cooperating with the House Ethics Committee investigation into whether Gaetz had sex with an underage girl while he was serving in Congress. Scheller has turned over documents to the committee that back up Greenberg’s claims that he “witnessed Gaetz having sex with a 17-year-old girl.”

Greenberg, who pleaded guilty in May 2021 to charges including sex trafficking, is serving an 11-year prison sentence. He had previously cooperated with a Justice Department investigation into whether Gaetz had engaged in sex trafficking of a minor, a federal offense that carries a minimum of 10 years in prison.

Last year, the Justice Department quietly closed the inquiry into Gaetz after investigators concluded they could not make a strong enough case against him in court, people familiar with the matter said.

…The investigation of Gaetz has been slow moving as investigators have been sent a range of tips. Gaetz has claimed that the inquiry is in retaliation against him for taking the lead in ousting Kevin McCarthy as House speaker.

The Justice Department’s decision not to prosecute Gaetz came two months after Greenberg was sentenced to prison. Scheller said at the time that the Justice Department’s decision proved that the country had “two systems”— one that favors politicians like Gaetz and penalizes those who are less powerful, like Greenberg.

“Why prosecute the privileged when defendants of limited culpability provide sufficient cannon fodder?" Scheller said then.

McCarthy was in Las Vegas kissing Trump’s ass on Friday. But not Gaetz’s. He told members of the media that he thinks “people see now how far Matt Gaetz will go and the fear he has of what’s in the ethics complaint. He’s trying to protect himself and that harms our caucus, that harms our majority. In the end, people will see why Gaetz would want to do that. And I think in the end, Gaetz would have a hard time being a member of Congress with staying out of jail too.”

Meanwhile, at Dallas-Fort Worth Airport, Gaetz was stopped by the TSA trying to smuggle a taser onto a plane. They made him throw it away and the let him skate. Jake Sherman asked him why he was carrying it. “Because,” he said, smugly “I can't afford to hire Cori Bush's husband.”

Matt with the boy he claimed was his son, Nestor