Morning Politocadoes!
Let’s take a little dive into the incredibly strange world of one Congressman Matt Gaetz. The son of former Florida State Senator, Don Gaetz, and grandson of a former mayor, Jerry Gaetz, grew up in Seaside, Florida in a house used in the filming of “The Truman Show”. He has a close relationship with a man Nestor Galban, whom he has variously described as a ‘helper’, a ‘local student’. ‘his son’, and the younger brother of an ex-girlfriend. He has seen a meteoric rise in prominence during his four years in the House, thanks to his close alignment with the Trump administration. Assuming office in 2017, Gaetz is well-known for his antics, from storming the SCIF during Trump’s first impeachment to having a rally to shame Congresswoman Liz Cheney for voting to impeach Trump in his second impeachment, Gaetz has been an outrageous agitator that has won him few fans in the House, but many on the fringe-right.
In any case, it has recently come to light that he is a subject in a Federal investigation into the sex trafficking of a minor. Gaetz has denied these allegations in spectacular fashion on Tucker Carlson, claiming that former DOJ employees were blackmailing him in a complicated scheme to bring home an Iranian hostage thought to be dead, Bob Levinson, in a project called “Homecoming”. According to documents provided to The Washington Examiner (so take that with a grain of salt), were given to Gaetz’ father Don, who would deposit money into an account run by a firm connected to the lawyer of the family of Bob Levinson and a convicted fraudster by the name of Stephen Alford.
Gaetz’ father had been contacted by a former military official, Bob Kent, who claimed to have a way to make the younger Gaetz’ investigation go away, suggesting he had the proof that Levinson was alive, and if successful in securing his release, Matt Gaetz would get the credit and a presidential pardon. Bob Kent, had previously claimed that he had put together a thwarted mission to Iran to rescue Levinson in 2018. Kent supposedly presented Don Gaetz with a description of the FBI investigation, including photos of Matt Gaetz and another unnamed official in an orgy with underage prostitutes.
Now, Don Gaetz went ahead and contacted the FBI about this and the FBI has verified that to be the case. This is pure speculation on my part, but it sure sounds like these guys behind Project: Homecoming, who have plenty of connections in and out of government, knew well enough what Matty had been up to. While maybe the specific scenarios presented aren’t correct, they’re true enough and saw an opening to make some money. Who’s to say? We’ll have to see how it all pans out.
In any case, Matt Gaetz now finds himself with few allies in Congress. Jim Jordan’s voice of support is cold comfort for obvious reasons, but many GOP representatives have quietly written him off, especially if the charges turn out to be true. He has supporters, however, in people Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Katrina Pierson, that Trump lawyer that heard Rudy fart, Jenna Ellis, but none, notably, from the Trump family. Trump World is not defending him, heck, technically, Bill Barr opened the investigation in the first place.
It remains to be seen what is true and what isn’t in this very weird tale, but its comforting to know how few people will actually care when and if Matt Gaetz resigns his seat in disgrace.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/docs-outline-alleged-scheme-to-extort-rep-matt-gaetz?via=twitter_page
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/545850-gaetz-on-the-ropes-finds-few-friends-in-gop?rl=1
Welcome to Thursday! Please be excellent to each other in the comments. The Mayor McSquirrel Rule remains in effect. As the Covid-19 pandemic continues, please continue to maintain social distancing measures, wear masks in public areas, and practices sanitation policies as circumstances dictate.