House Ethics Committee opens investigation into Matt Gaetz

Table Of Content

• Don't let an algorithm decide what news you see.
• Federal judges block Louisiana’s newly drawn congressional map.
• MORE: Feds looking at alleged payments Rep. Matt Gaetz made to women and online solicitation: Sources
• Trump again vows mass deportations and won’t rule out political violence.
• MORE: House Ethics Committee issues subpoena for testimony of Matt Gaetz's ex-girlfriend in ongoing investigation
• He criticized Netanyahu but would help Israel fight Iran.

He said that he was unhappy the statement had not condemned Hamas, and that it was inappropriate for it to compare the current protests — which he sees as in large part antisemitic — to the civil rights movement. The statement had supermajority support from the College Democrats’ 10-member executive board, but two members voted against it. The party’s presidential and vice-presidential nominees in 2020 were Rocky De La Fuente, a businessman who has made several unsuccessful runs for elected office, and Kanye West, the rapper, producer and fashion designer.

Don't let an algorithm decide what news you see.

In a rare lengthy interview with a mainstream print media outlet, Donald J. Trump shared his plans for a second term with Time magazine. He said that he would build detention camps for migrants, leave it to states to decide whether to prosecute those who violate abortion bans and consider pardoning every person prosecuted for storming the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. In the Time interview, Trump also pointed to mass deportations under Dwight Eisenhower in the 1950s as an example that he could follow. That initiative, which used a racial slur in its name, expelled as many as 1.3 million people, some of them U.S. citizens. Immigration and local officials used military techniques and intense anti-immigrant sentiment to justify sometimes ruthless treatment of immigrants.

Former Gaetz associate cooperating with Ethics Committee probe - The Hill

Former Gaetz associate cooperating with Ethics Committee probe.

Posted: Fri, 09 Feb 2024 08:00:00 GMT [source]

Federal judges block Louisiana’s newly drawn congressional map.

The Justice Department informed Gaetz in 2023 that it was declining to bring charges against him. Greenberg, a former Florida tax collector who sources say agreed to cooperate in the DOJ's probe into Gaetz, was sentenced in December 2022 after pleading guilty to crimes ranging from wire fraud to sex trafficking a minor. The probe, which was reopened last summer, continues to ramp up, as the committee in recent weeks has contacted multiple new witnesses as part of its ongoing investigation into the Florida congressman, sources said. The House Ethics Committee investigating Rep. Matt Gaetz has reached out to Joel Greenberg, a one-time close friend of Gaetz who was sentenced to 11 years in prison after pleading guilty to federal charges, sources told ABC News. The New York Times first reported that the Department of Justice is investigating Gaetz over whether he had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old and paid for her to travel with him, which could violate federal sex trafficking laws.

MORE: Feds looking at alleged payments Rep. Matt Gaetz made to women and online solicitation: Sources

The census had found that the Black population in the state had increased by 3.8 percent over the past decade, meaning that roughly a third of the overall population was Black. But in the map drawn by the Republican-controlled Legislature, only one of the six congressional districts had a majority Black population. The ruling is the latest wrinkle in the lengthy legal battle over the shape of Louisiana’s congressional districts and comes as other Southern states have also been forced by courts to redraw district lines amid accusations of racial discrimination. A newly drawn congressional map in Louisiana was struck down by a panel of federal judges who found that the new boundaries, which form a second majority Black district in the state, amounted to an “impermissible racial gerrymander” that violated the U.S.

"Once again, the office will reiterate, these allegations are blatantly false and have not been validated by a single human being willing to put their name behind them," his office said in a statement Friday. Gaetz, a favorite of former President Donald Trump, was the ringleader of the small Republican group that blocked McCarthy’s election to the speakership for 15 heated rounds in January 2023 before ceding. Nine months later, Gaetz filed the motion that allowed him and seven other Republicans to oust McCarthy over the strenuous objections of the vast majority of their GOP colleagues.

Kevin McCarthy-Matt Gaetz feud heats up months after the former speaker's ouster - NBC News

Kevin McCarthy-Matt Gaetz feud heats up months after the former speaker's ouster.

Posted: Sun, 24 Mar 2024 07:00:00 GMT [source]

Representative Matt Gaetz is facing a House Committee inquiry into allegations of sexual misconduct and misuse of funds. Representative Kevin McCarthy has argued Mr. Gaetz’s move against his speakership is payback. Fritz Scheller, a lawyer for Mr. Gaetz’s former friend and political ally Joel Greenberg, said he provided documents to the committee related to claims Mr. Greenberg has made about Mr. Gaetz.

MORE: Matt Gaetz associate Joel Greenberg gets 11 years as probe into congressman stalls, sources say

Rep. Matt Gaetz is reportedly active again including interviewing new witnesses, ABC News reported on Tuesday. The Justice Department, following a yearslong sex-trafficking probe into the Florida congressman, informed Gaetz last February that it would not bring charges against him. The news comes weeks after Rep. George Santos was voted out of Congress following the release of a scathing report by the Ethics Committee that alleged the New York congressman used the prestige of political office to defraud victims of tens of thousands of dollars. Mr. McCarthy has argued that Mr. Gaetz’s motion to remove him as speaker is little more than personal payback for Mr. McCarthy’s failure to interfere with the inquiry, which is looking into allegations of sexual misconduct and misuse of funds by Mr. Gaetz.

"The reason Kevin McCarthy went down today is because nobody trusts Kevin McCarthy," Gaetz told reporters after the vote. "Kevin McCarthy has made multiple contradictory promises, and when they all came due, he lost votes of people who maybe don't even ideologically agree with me on everything." In a statement, Greenberg's attorney Fritz Scheller told ABC News that Greenberg "has and will cooperate with any congressional request." A spokesperson for Gaetz told ABC News at the time, "Rep. Gaetz has no knowledge of these activities by Mr. Greenberg and was not involved in them. Rep. Gaetz has never paid for sex. Rep. Gaetz does not know anything about the woman you're referencing, though he takes thousands of selfies each year."

Gaetz denied any wrongdoing, previously insisting to multiple news outlets that the overarching case was "rooted in an extortion effort" against him. Gaetz’s office declined to comment, and requests for comment from members of the House Ethics Committee and Speaker Kevin McCarthy were not immediately returned. Ultimately, after a grand jury investigated whether the Florida Republican had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old and paid her to travel with him, investigators recommended not moving forward with trafficking charges against the lawmaker. The House Ethics Committee has quietly reopened a probe into Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz, Punchbowl News reports, citing sources familiar with the investigation. Gaetz responded to the recent ABC News report by implying the members of the ethics committee were suspect. Gaetz, 38, confirmed he is under investigation by the Justice Department but denied the allegations.

The Justice Department last year declined to charge Gaetz in its sex trafficking investigation. Greenberg reached a deal with investigators in May 2021 in which he pleaded guilty to multiple federal crimes, including sex trafficking of a minor and introducing her to other "adult men" who also had sex with her when she was underage. He also agreed to provide "substantial assistance" to prosecutors as part of their ongoing investigation into Gaetz and others, according to sources familiar with the arrangement. In February, the Department of Justice informed Representative Matt Gaetz’s lawyers that it would not be bringing criminal charges against him following an investigation into allegations of sex trafficking and various other wrongdoing, allegations that Gaetz has always denied. Presumably, this news came as a huge sigh of relief to the GOP congressman, as even self-described “firebrand[s]” do not want to do time in prison.

The inquiry centers on Gaetz’s presence at a party in Florida in 2017, where numerous illegal substances were allegedly present — backed by a sworn statement from a woman who attended the event. McCarthy has not yet disclosed his future plans, but he did announce to his conference he would not run again for speaker. Citing a comment President Biden made Sunday, Gaetz accused McCarthy of making a "secret deal" to provide more funding for Ukraine in a separate measure, which many Republicans oppose. Continuing to provide support for Ukraine has divided House Republicans — last week, a supplemental funding bill for Ukraine had more GOP opposition than support, with 117 Republicans voting against it and 101 voting for it.

His conversations with Time — a sit-down at the former president’s residence in Palm Beach, Fla., and a follow-up phone call — offered a revealing glimpse of how he would wield presidential power, challenge democratic norms and reshape the country if he won back the White House in November. Just before entering a Manhattan courthouse for his trial, Donald J. Trump said the violent white supremacist rally in Charlottesville in 2017 was “a big hoax, what they say was said,” escalating his distortions of the gathering of neo-Nazis, antisemites and white supremacists. One woman was killed and nearly 40 people were injured when an avowed neo-Nazi plowed his car into a crowd during those violent clashes. Mr. Dimmock’s campaign committee shares a treasurer with American Patriots PAC, a group that was used by former Speaker Kevin McCarthy to support candidates who were aligned with him in the 2022 midterms.

Yet while the Florida lawmaker may be in the clear from actual prosecution, at least one probe into his actions is still active—and seemingly heating up. Greenberg, a former Seminole County tax collector, reached a deal with investigators in May 2021 in which he pleaded guilty to multiple federal crimes, including sex trafficking of a minor and introducing her to other "adult men" who also had sex with her when she was underage. The inquiry, according to a statement from the panel's Democratic and Republican leaders, will review allegations of sexual misconduct, illegal drug use, misuse of state identification records and campaign funds, and whether the congressman accepted a bribe or gift in violation of House rules.