Poor little rich boy Representative Matt Gaetz (R-FL) is just one more swamp creature to rise from the muck and sun himself on the Mar-a-Lago manicured lawns. He had troubles before. Now, the alleged wild sex partier just dug himself deeper into the pit of everlasting torment.
He may not be able to slither out of his latest problem. You see, after he got caught sex-tracking a minor for reimbursement, it appears that he allegedly tried to manipulate an ex-girlfriend into telling a different story. The operative word here was “story.”
His former good buddy and “wingman,” the previous Florida county tax collector, Joe Greenberg, rolled on him and gave state’s evidence. This was after he pled guilty to a rash of other crimes. One of his crimes involved “sex-trafficking a 17-year-old” in 2017. In Florida, that was beneath the age of consent.
Gaetz spokesperson released a statement indicating that Gaetz, who is an attorney and would know better, “broke no laws.” The representative described his actions as “naughty favors,” The Huffington Post reported. Further, he claimed this was just a political “fishing expedition” and an “alleged shakedown scheme” by the government. The statement read, as The POLITICO reported:
‘Congressman Gaetz pursues justice, he doesn’t obstruct it. The anonymous allegations have thus far amounted to lies, wrapped in leaks, rooted in an extortion plot by a former DOJ official. After two montThs, there is still not a single on-record accusation of misconduct, and now the “story” is changing yet again.’
Longtime federal defense lawyer on the investigation Brian Tannebaum told POLITICO obstruction of justice was “widely used by prosecutors in various forms.” There was in evidence a more recent recorded call between Gaetz and his then-participating ex-girlfriend. It appeared that she turned states’ evidence against him, too. The feds were able to get the call between the two partiers as they kept an eye out for any indications that Gaetz was trying to get her to “get her story straight,” to create an alternative set of “facts.”
As POLITICO reported “[I]t is illegal to suggest that a witness in a criminal case lie or give misleading testimony:”
‘If there’s any indication he was trying to influence her testimony, that can be obstruction. If it’s determined that what he said obstructed the investigation — ‘did what he tell you have any influence on your testimony before the grand jury?’ — it can be real problem.’
The lawyer for one of those people of “interest to authorities in the investigation” explained that the government’s prosecutors have spoken to “numerous women about “wild sex parties involving drugs, multiple women:”
‘Sex trafficking of a minor involves two prongs in this case: did you have sex with [the 17-year-old] and did anything of value change hands? If the answer is yes, and if any of these other women were involved, why are they not facing charges as well?’
‘If the federal government wants to call a bunch of people to the state who sex-trafficked a minor in order to bust Gaetz for the same crime, it’s an avenue for his defense if it gets that far.’
Three White Lions podcast, Gloria Christie reads her week’s most important news/ commentary stories in the liberal online newspaper The Bipartisan Report. Gloria Christie Report her newsletter for people on the go. Written in her own unique style with a twist of humor in a briefer version of Bipartisan Report. Christie’s Mueller Report Adventures In Bite-Sizes a real-life compelling spy mystery. Find her here on Facebook.
