‘This is the kind of person Trump wanted’: Matt Gaetz’s ethics report reveals chilling details of abhorrent behavior
The release of an ethics report on Matt Gaetz’s behavior has come out, and Donald Trump isn’t escaping scrutiny for his choice to nominate him to be Attorney General.
“This is the kind of person Trump wanted” wrote former NBC Universal executive Mike Singleton in a post on X, responding to a House Ethics report that put forward “substantial evidence” that Gaetz paid to have sex with a minor.
“Republican family values,” he wrote, serving Trump’s GOP allies an ironic reminder of the President-elect’s hypocrisy.
According to the House Ethics Committee report, Gaetz hired women for sex at least 20 different times, including a 17 year old girl in 2017. The bombshell report concluded that while the allegations of sex-trafficking against Gaetz’ were inconclusive, he was indeed guilty of violating statutory rape laws in the state of Florida.
Investigators pointed to a particularly damning trip that Gaetz reportedly took to the Bahamas as evidence, where the former Congressman was found to have paid for sex and used illegal drugs while still serving in office, in violation of the “House gift rule.” Gaetz reportedly gifted a woman the trip itself as “payment” for sex.
Gaetz has repeatedly denied the allegations, saying that they were an attempt to “smear” his reputation in politics. While he did not publicly admit wrongdoing, Gaetz withdrew from his Attorney General nomination saying that he didn’t want the then-ongoing investigation against him to be a “distraction” for the Trump administration.
According to this user, Gaetz’ political status allowed him to skirt a conviction. Despite the “substantial evidence” of criminal activity uncovered by the House Committee, Gaetz has not been officially charged with a crime. In fact, his legal battles are already behind him. The Department of Justice ruled that they would not be pressing charges against Gaetz. An associate of Gaetz, Florida tax collector Joel Greenberg, was charged in the investigation instead. Greenberg plead guilty to six charges in 2021, including sex-trafficking of a minor, stalking, fraud and conspiracy to bribe a public official.
While Gaetz’ won’t serve jail time, his political career is forever besmirched. In addition to withdrawing from his Attorney General nomination, Gaetz withdrew from Congress itself. According to Gaetz, he doesn’t plan to rejoin Congress, saying “I’m still going to be in the fight, but it’s going to be from a new perch. I do not intend to join the 119th Congress,” in an interview with conservative commentator Charlie Kirk. Gaetz also said that he’s going to be focusing more on his “wife and my family” as well as fighting for President Trump.” Gaetz met his wife Ginger Gaetz at Mar a Lago when she was 26, and the pair were married in the midst of the allegations in 2021. She has since stood by her husband, calling him the “sweetest, hardest-working, and most talented man in the world.”
As this user points out, Gaetz isn’t the only Cabinet member accused of sexual misconduct. Former Fox News host turned Secretary of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth is currently embroiled in allegations of sexual assault, but many Republicans are choosing to support him regardless. Considering their support for Donald Trump himself, it doesn’t come as a surprise.
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