FL Rep Matt Gaetz has managed to get himself caught up in an investigation of sex trafficking, and he's not helping himself because he can't keep his mouth shut.
It's important to note that Gaetz has not been charged with anything. The NY Times published a story in which they said that Gaetz is being investigated because of his possible relationship with another Florida politician who HAS been indicted on sex trafficking charges. The investigation is real; Gaetz himself admits it. It began under AG Barr's tenure; at some point, Gaetz came on the radar because of his association with the other guy.
Is there anything there? I have no idea and am not accusing him of anything, because we don't have all the information yet. But Gaetz, who is an attorney and show know better, decided to get out ahead of his skis and immediately go on Tucker Carlson's show hours after the story broke to defend himself; it did not go well.
Over the course of the interview, Gaetz told a story about extortion, attempted to drag Carlson in as a possible witness (by referring to a dinner he said they had that Carlson immediately said he no recollection of), defamed a former DOJ lawyer by name on national television, and denied the existence of pictures of himself with child prostitutes - a charge that absolutely no one anywhere has made. Who, when under investigation, brings up the possibility of incriminating pictures???
Ol' Tuck looked more befuddled than usual, and at the end said it was the weirdest interview of his career. If you haven't seen the interview, you can watch it here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQzLCHLle-g
Since then, more information has come out about the alleged extortion plot and the investigation, and it doesn't appear to be what Gaetz is claiming it to be. The lawyer he defamed was in the DOJ 25 years ago and is now in private practice with a firm that Gaetz also named. It's a developing story, and it's very possible that at the end, there will be nothing there. If he's smart - which is something Matt Gaetz has never been accused of - he'll keep his mouth shut, stop digging the hole deeper, and wait until there's actually something for him to defend against.
One last point that has been brought up multiple times both on social media and other media outlets because of this whole sex trafficking investigation that Gaetz decided to go public with:
In 2017, Congress passed a bipartisan anti-sex trafficking bill. It passed unanimously in the Senate and 419-1 in the House. The one person in Congress who voted against it? Matt Gaetz.
Somewhere, Roy Moore is laughing hysterically... |