Matt Gaetz chosen by Trump for Attorney General

[essentialsaltes]

From what I read , he's a criminal.

Just because he attended parties where guests indulged in illegal drugs and had sex with underage girls doesn't mean that he indulged in illegal drugs and had sex with underage girls.

It's entirely guilt by association to assume that just because Gaetz' friend got an 11 year sentence for sex trafficking a minor and other crimes, that Gaetz also was involved or knew about it and didn't say anything to authorities.

Sep 20: Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) attended a 2017 drug-fuelled sex party that included underage girls, according to legal documents filed late-night Thursday and made available to the public.

One eye witness cited as K.M. provided a sworn affidavit that the teenage girl, identified as A.B., was naked and those in attendance were there to “engage in sexual activities.” The witness also said that “alcohol, cocaine, ecstasy… and marijuana” were present at the party.

--

Sep 26: Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida said the House Ethics Committee will subpoena him as it investigates whether he engaged in sexual misconduct or illicit drug use.

The controversial congressman declared he will “no longer voluntarily participate” in the committee’s investigation.

 

[durangodawood]

Gaetz’s ascension means the age of lawfare against the president is over for good.

Trump promised to used DoJ to go after his enemies for the purpose of vengeance. Gaetz is an indication he means to follow through.

 

[ThatRobGuy]

I don't believe Gaetz can get Senate approval. If he is approved, I suspect you will see Lawfare on a level never dreamed of in the US (other than in the mind of Trump).

There is a solid chance that he burned too many bridges, and he won't get confirmed by the Senate. Mitch McConnell and a few of the other republican power brokers in the senate weren't terribly thrilled with the little stunt he pulled against Kevin McCarthy.

 

[ThatRobGuy]

I would have chosen Mark Levin first, but Matt is a fighter who won't back down.

I don't know that "won't back down" is necessarily a virtue by itself...

"Willingness to fight" is really only a virtue if it's being done in the name of a worthy cause. Arguing with (and being a bulwark against) Democrats isn't a stand-alone quality in my opinion.


Plus, Gaetz is prone to scandal accusations.


If I were Trump, honestly (and I don't mean this as a joke, I'm being serious), if he's looking for someone who's educated in law to be attorney general, who's deeply committed, and is almost certain to have a personal life that's clean as a whistle and scandal-proof, I would've tapped Ben Shapiro to fill that role. A Harvard Law honors graduate that's almost certain to never have a sex scandal (or any other scandal) from his personal life pop up. I'm pretty sure Shapiro's the kind of guy that wouldn't even peek through his fingers during a game of hide & seek when he was 11.

 

[durangodawood]

I assume if Gaetz fails confirmation he can go back to his house seat?

 

[RocksInMyHead]

I assume if Gaetz fails confirmation he can go back to his house seat?

He has apparently already resigned from the House, so no. Conveniently, this allows him to dodge the Ethics Committee investigation into allegations of obstruction of justice and sex trafficking.

 

[ThatRobGuy]

He has apparently already resigned from the House, so no. Conveniently, this allows him to dodge the Ethics Committee investigation into allegations of obstruction of justice and sex trafficking.

I'm not a Matt Gaetz fan...but in the interest of fairness, was there ever any credible evidence to suggest he was guilty of such charges?

Justice Department drops sex trafficking probe of Rep. Matt Gaetz without charges, lawyers say

The investigation coincided with Matt Gaetz’s rise to prominence as a vocal supporter of Donald Trump and antagonist to congressional Democrats.

www.usatoday.com

Or was it another Kavanaugh-like situation? Where the accuser supposedly sat on the information for a long period of time, and only decided to come forward (conveniently) once the person in question was getting elevated to a position of notoriety?

"House investigations" are subject to a lot of partisanship. If the justice department (an actual law enforcement branch) closed their case on it and didn't feel the need to bring up any charges, shouldn't that be the end of it?

If "House investigations" were the gold standard of credibility, then every hair brained thing Marjorie Taylor Green chooses to "investigate" would be given credence by that standard.

 

[Oompa Loompa]

From what I read , he's a criminal.

So is Trump. But the majority of Americans don't care. I am looking forward to seeing what Matt is going to do.

 

[rjs330]

Just because he attended parties where guests indulged in illegal drugs and had sex with underage girls doesn't mean that he indulged in illegal drugs and had sex with underage girls.

It's entirely guilt by association to assume that just because Gaetz' friend got an 11 year sentence for sex trafficking a minor and other crimes, that Gaetz also was involved or knew about it and didn't say anything to authorities.

This sounds terrible. Was he ever charged? Is he still under investigation?
Umm... the answer would be no. The DOJ is done. So, perhaps we can dispense with any further allegations of this. Otherwise all one is doing is spreading rumor and gossip.

 

[rjs330]

From what I read , he's a criminal. Unless my standards are to high. Well so it Trump. I must have very high moral standards.

What crimes has he been charged with?

 

[RocksInMyHead]

Or was it another Kavanaugh-like situation? Where the accuser supposedly sat on the information for a long period of time, and only decided to come forward (conveniently) once the person in question was getting elevated to a position of notoriety?

No - the alleged events happened in 2017-2019, and the investigations were opened in 2021. Gaetz was elected to the House in 2017. That's a far cry from Kavanaugh's situation, especially since there was a conviction for Gaetz's friend Joel Greenberg in the mix as well, so something definitely happened.

We'll never know if there was any concrete evidence of his involvement, as the criminal investigation was dropped, but there's plenty of circumstantial evidence.

 

[RocksInMyHead]

This sounds terrible. Was he ever charged? Is he still under investigation?
Umm... the answer would be no. The DOJ is done. So, perhaps we can dispense with any further allegations of this. Otherwise all one is doing is spreading rumor and gossip.

Everything in @essentialsaltes post is factual.

 

[Valletta]

He has apparently already resigned from the House, so no. Conveniently, this allows him to dodge the Ethics Committee investigation into allegations of obstruction of justice and sex trafficking.

It lets an election for his seat take place before Trump takes office.

 

[Valletta]

Trump promised to used DoJ to go after his enemies for the purpose of vengeance. Gaetz is an indication he means to follow through.

You forgot to mention that Trump is going to take away Medicare and Social Security from seniors, ban all birth control, grab American citizens and deport them with illegals, and put the rest of his enemies in prison camps.

 

[rjs330]

Everything in @essentialsaltes post is factual.

Facts of nothing. Hints and allegations and all was dropped by the DOJ itself.

No charges filed. Not even a grnd jury indictment. Nada.

Can we please drop the gossip?

 

[Fantine]

Gaetz’s ascension means the age of lawfare against the president is over for good.
There is no ambivalence at all for this man the Florida Republican Party hails as a “conservative warrior who will end the weaponization of our government, protect our borders, and restore confidence in our Justice Department.”

Matt Gaetz is the perfect MAGA attorney general

President-elect Donald Trump’s slam-dunk selection of Panhandle Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz for his second-term attorney general means the age of lawfare against the president is over for good.

nypost.com

You don't end weaponized government (or the fantasy Republicans tried to convince people was real) by weaponizing government (heaven help us) for real--with different targets.

 

[essentialsaltes]

This sounds terrible. Was he ever charged?

No.

Is he still under investigation?

Yes asterisk. The GOP-majority House Ethics Committee was investigating and was about to release some findings. I don't know what his resignation means for that.

But you don't see any of the other Trump Cabinet hopefuls resigning.

 

[essentialsaltes]

“I just think it's silly. I believe that the president is probably rewarding him for being such a loyal soldier to the president, but the president is smart enough, and his team is smart enough, to know that Mr. Gaetz will never get confirmed by the Senate. Whatsoever," [Rep. Max Miller, R-Ohio] said. "And so this is just going to be a very long period of time for him that he's going to get excoriated by members of the Senate on both sides of the aisle, because he's never been a team player, and he's never helped out this conference.”

 

[Valletta]

You don't end weaponized government (or the fantasy Republicans tried to convince people was real) by weaponizing government (heaven help us) for real--with different targets.

You don't end weaponized government (or the fantasy Republicans tried to convince people was real) by weaponizing government (heaven help us) for real--with different targets.

Al Capone was convicted of carrying a concealed weapon and on five counts of tax evasion. People had to decide whether Trump deserved to be convicted of 32 felonies or weather the government was weaponized against him.

 

[JSRG]

It lets an election for his seat take place before Trump takes office.

Highly doubtful. Elections--particularly unexpected ones--take a bunch of time to be able to set up, especially considering you have to have a primary first. The last time there was a special election for a Florida house seat (January 2022 for the 20th congressional district) it was nine months after the seat became empty. The special election before that, in May of 2014 for the 13th district, was a shorter gap, but still five months after it became empty. There does not appear to be sufficient time to hold a special election in just two months.