Matt Gaetz’s motive for announcing to the world that the House Ethics Committee was expanding its investigation against him is now clear: Just like his buddy Trump, he’s fundraising off of it, complete with the caps lock on.
“IT’S WITCHHUNT 2.0 AGAINST ME” the Florida Republican yells in an email to supporters reported by HuffPost’s Jennifer Bendry.
That would be a “witch hunt” by a bipartisan committee that has “spoken with more than a dozen witnesses, issued 25 subpoenas, and reviewed thousands of pages of documents” as part of its investigation. The committee, in its very rare public statement about the investigation, said it has found that some of the allegations “merit continued review”—and identified new allegations worth investigating.
According to ABC News, the interviews included at least half a dozen women who were at drug and sex parties with Gaetz. The women were paid to attend by Gaetz’s one-time friend Joel Greenberg, who was sentenced in 2022 to 11 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to multiple charges including sex trafficking a minor and introducing the minor to other “adult men.”
ABC reports that “some witnesses have been shown Venmo payments they allegedly received from Gaetz and asked if those payments were for sexual activities.” One woman, according to ABC’s sources, told the committee that a payment from Gaetz was for sex. Others said they were paid to attend parties featuring drugs and sex where Gaetz was present.
Again, the allegations are that Gaetz may have “engaged in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, accepted improper gifts, dispensed special privileges and favors to individuals with whom he had a personal relationship, and sought to obstruct government investigations of his conduct.”
It’s a perfect opportunity for Gaetz to raise some dough off of the MAGA faithful, right? Just like his leader.
It’s all a set up, he explains in the fundraising email. “[Former House Speaker] Kevin McCarthy, working sinisterly behind the scenes with the help of his Uniparty cabal, has orchestrated another wave of attacks—refusing to let go of me EXPELLING him as Speaker.”
“Kevin McCarthy is OUT FOR BLOOD, and his DC cronies are furious I took a hammer to their system,” he continues. “But these investigations are expensive, and I won’t win unless YOU and 500 of my closest supporters defend me ASAP.”
Never mind that the speaker doesn’t control the Ethics Committee, a strictly bipartisan panel—equal numbers of Republicans and Democrats—that operates independently from House leadership. Also never mind that McCarthy wasn’t even still there when the committee started looking at new allegations.
Just like his dear leader, Gaetz isn’t above lying—or exploiting his potential crimes—to make a buck.
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