March 31, 2021: Rep. Matt Gaetz - Sounding Creepy

 

3/31/21: It’s a tough day for Trumpophiles. One of the heroes of their crowd, Rep. Matt Gaetz, is under investigation for carrying a minor across state lines for the purposes of sex. 

 

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“There’s no age that you can’t be sexy.” 

Retweet by Matt Gaetz

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He may of course be innocent. 

We of the liberal persuasion do not chant, “Lock him up,” until there has been a trial, if necessary, and a guilty verdict if merited. 

But if ever anyone looked like the type who might resort to enticing a minor across state lines for sex, Matt is the man. 

A number of old tweets from Gaetz have not aged like Dom Perignon. My least favorite comes from August 2019. Someone named Bebe Rexha tweeted: “There’s no age that you can’t be sexy.” 

Gaetz retweeted, saying, “I say we change Florida’s welcome signs to this.”

 

This one isn’t a whole lot better, although you could see where it might be completely innocuous.

 

Anyway, no chanting, “Lock Matt up!” until all the facts are known and his case, if any, adjudicated. That’s the American way, even if Gaetz’s favorite former president and his favorite former president’s fans never could figure that out.

 

I am reminded, however, of his previous comments regarding Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, whose ideas he called “dangerous for America.” In a pervy kind of way, he also said she was “attractive,” and said he’d swipe right – a la Tinder – to do a bill with her. There was also his comment, in regard to her tweet on helping communities ravaged by the War on Drugs. 

Dear, weird Rep. Gaetz thought an appropriate response was to reply, “You had me at hello.” 

Finally, as an official older person, I learned in checking up on Gaetz that – at least according to a hip young writer –the fire emoji, is “the universal symbol for ‘u + me = yes, tonight?’” 

Eight days after her dad got thumped in his bid for a second term, Matt slapped that emoji on a picture posted by Tiffany Trump. He tossed in a heart emoji, a face emoji with hearts for eyes, and a thumbs up emoji. 

I’m old and too lazy to copy and paste the proper emojis to my text. So here’s a link to the story. 

And here’s the picture:

 

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SPEAKING OF creepy: The Supreme Court of New York has rejected Tiffany’s dad’s appeal to terminate a defamation lawsuit brought by Summer Zervos. Dad stalled it out while president. Now his claim that defending himself in a trial would take away from his time to defend America, work on a healthcare plan, which we never saw, and go golfing all the time, no longer pertains. 

Zervos is one of nearly two-dozen women to accuse then-Citizen Trump of sexual abuse and harassment of varying kinds. Zervos is the only one then-Candidate-for-president Trump singled out by name and called a liar. 

Chances are good that Citizen-again Trump will have to provide a deposition. If you’ve ever read his comical responses to Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s questions, where he was allowed to have a lawyer help him write them, and filled them out like a take-home test in elementary school, you know he’s going to have almost zero chance of avoiding a stinging civil case loss. 

Plus, a bunch of other accusers are likely to be deposed by Zervos’ lawyers to support her claims.

 

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FINALLY, in other court-related news, two police officers injured in the Capitol Hill riot have sued Donald. 

Their story is worth a read. 

 

POSTSCRIPT: Tucker Carlson invited Rep. Gaetz to come on his show and explain his side of the story. Gaetz, who could be innocent, flubbed his chance so badly even Carlson admitted afterward, that was “one of the weirdest interviews I’ve ever conducted.” 

Gaetz did claim the Department of Justice and F.B.I. have tape of an individual trying to extort money from his family, by lodging a bogus sexual misconduct claim against him. So, he could be…yes…innocent. 

And then there’s that guy he allegedly brought to the White House in 2019, to meet that other guy who ran the place, who was definitely the porn-star-banging type. The guy he brought, Joel Greenberg, was indicted last summer on a range of charges…including sex-trafficking a child.

 

Other highlights of Gaetz’s career include bringing a Holocaust denier to hear the 2018 State of the Union address. In 2017 he was the only member of the House or Senate “to vote against a law that gave the federal government more power and money to fight human trafficking.” 

Still. Still. There’s no smoking gun! Gaetz could be innocent! There’s just that general air of creepiness.

 

BLOGGER’S NOTE (3/21/22): We try to be fair. So, we should point out that Zervos eventually dropped her suit against the former president. Not sure why – possibly, her lawyers felt Trump’s comments might be covered by free speech.

April 5, 2021: Rep. Matt Gaetz Had to Pay for Sex?

 

4/5/21: Last week, I wrote that Rep. Matt Gaetz might soon be accused in an investigation involving sex trafficking of minors. I said that it was too soon to start chanting, “Lock him up!” 

Now it might be time to clear our throats. 

CNN has reported that the Florida lawmaker and Trump-suck-up enjoyed showing colleagues – on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives – pictures of naked women he had slept with. 

No class. 

Not illegal.

Matt thought it was funny to wear a gas mask during COVID-19.

(See “BLOGGER’S NOTE” below.)

The New York Times has also added details to an increasingly sordid story; and reporters say they’ve seen text messages and receipts. 

Investigators believe Joel Greenberg, a pal of Matt’s, who was indicted last year, “met the women [involved in this story] through websites that connect people who go on dates in exchange for gifts, fine dining, travel and allowances. 

Dates? Okay. 

Still legal.

 

Greenberg is alleged to have introduced the women to randy Matt, who also had sex with them. In fact, one of the women allegedly agreed to have sex with a third associate of the two. 

Kind of like prostitution.

 

The Times has seen plenty of documentation, it would appear, although what it will prove is a separate matter: 

In encounters during 2019 and 2020, Mr. Gaetz and Mr. Greenberg instructed the women to meet at certain times and places, often at hotels around Florida, and would tell them the amount of money they were willing to pay, according to the messages and interviews.

 

One person said that the men also paid in cash, sometimes withdrawn from a hotel ATM.

 

Some of the men and women took ecstasy, an illegal mood-altering drug [emphasis added], before having sex, including Mr. Gaetz, two people familiar with the encounters said.

 

In some cases, Mr. Gaetz asked women to help find others who might be interested in having sex with him and his friends, according to two people familiar with those conversations. Should anyone inquire about their relationships, one person said, Mr. Gaetz told the women to say that he had paid for hotel rooms and dinners as part of their dates.

 

Thursday night, Rep. Gaetz’s office issued a complete denial: 

“Matt Gaetz has never paid for sex,” the statement said. “Matt Gaetz refutes all the disgusting allegations completely. Matt Gaetz has never ever been on any such websites whatsoever. Matt Gaetz cherishes the relationships in his past and looks forward to marrying the love of his life.”

 

It didn’t help when Congressman Gaetz’s spokesperson suddenly resigned and told at least one reporter he did so “out of principle.”

 

Since at least one of the girls Greenberg and Gaetz are said to have paid was 17, you can see the Two G’s might be getting nervous. Gaetz is a lawyer by training. So he should know going in that penalties may be stiff. Offering anyone under age 18 items of value in exchange for sex is a violation of federal child sex-trafficking laws. That would include providing anything of value: such as fancy meals, hotel rooms, drugs, alcohol, and even cigarettes. Conviction means a mandatory prison sentence of ten years. 

We have also learned that Greenberg was indicted again on additional charges this week. He is accused of submitting fake claims to receive pandemic relief aid. Then he allegedly tried to bribe a government official.

 

Mr. Greenberg is a scofflaw. He goes on trial in June; but he was sent to jail in March for violating the terms of his bail. 

Other odds and ends to the story: 

Did Gaetz divert campaign funds in order to pay women for sex? 

Were fake IDs provided for some of the women? 

Even Gaetz’s denial of wrongdoing, delivered during an appearance on Fox News, rang hollow. “Providing for flights and hotel rooms for people that you’re dating who are of legal age is not a crime,” he said. 

Guilty? Not guilty? We’ll wait and see.

 

Sleazy? Yeah. Definitely sleazy – which, if you have been following Gaetz’s political career, is no surprise.

 

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GAIL COLLINS, writing a humorous piece for the Times, notes that while Rep. Gaetz has never managed to pass a single bill during his two terms in Congress, he has managed to appear on Fox News at least 179 times.

BLOGGER’S NOTE: Gaetz thought it would be funny to flaunt mask rules in Congress. So he donned a gasmask to mock the idea – of what? – keeping others safe? A check on March 21, 2022, shows that nearly 73,000 Floridians have died from COVID-19.

April 30, 2021: Newsmax Settles - Matt Gaetz Needs a Pardon

 

4/30/21: As we noted previously, April has been the “cruelest month” for Team Trump. In the waning days of April, it only got crueler.

 

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“No evidence that such allegations were true.” 

Newsmax apology

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First, Newsmax, the right-wing television network, has been forced to settle a defamation lawsuit – and pony up an undisclosed pile of cash – for lying about Dominion Voting Machines and one of its employees, Dr. Eric Coomer. Newsmax had claimed that the company helped rig the last election. 

By legal standards, Dr. Coomer got almost instant relief. He filed his suit on December 22. Newsmax promptly  crumbled.

 

Among other absurdities, the cable channel had reported that Coomer took part in an “Antifa conference call” to make sure Biden and not Trump won in November. The network has withdrawn its claims and offered abject apology: 

[We] subsequently found no evidence [emphasis added] that such allegations were true. Many of the states whose results were contested by the Trump campaign after the November 2020 election have conducted extensive recounts and audits, and each of these states certified the results as legal and final.

 

The network also added, “On behalf of Newsmax, we would like to apologize for any harm that our reporting of the allegations against Dr. Coomer may have caused to Dr. Coomer and his family.” 

(That would include having to live in hiding for the last six months and fielding multiple death threats.)

 

Sadly, a recent poll by CNN shows that 70% of Republicans still don’t believe Biden had enough votes to win the election. Even worse, 50% still believe there’s “solid evidence” to support that myth.

 

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A pardon priced at $250,000 in bitcoin? 

IF SLEAZE is your style, Rep. Matt Gaetz, one of Rejected-President Trump’s favorite cheerleaders, is facing potential indictment on a variety of charges, including sex-trafficking a minor. New evidence keeps surfacing. 

The Daily Beast is in possession of a damning letter and emails sent by Gaetz friend Joel Greenberg. 

If you’ve never heard of Joel, he’s facing an impressive array of 33 charges. In the waning days of the Trump administration, knowing he was in legal jeopardy, he wrote Roger Stone (seven-time felon, and pal of the president) and asked Stone about a pardon for himself and Rep. Gaetz.

 

Of the 17-year-old, who was the alleged victim of sex trafficking, he said: 

On more than one occasion, this individual was involved in sexual activities with several of the other girls, the congressman from Florida’s 1st Congressional District and myself. From time to time, gas money or gifts, rent or partial tuition payments were made to several of these girls, including the individual who was not yet 18. I did see the acts occur firsthand and Venmo transactions, Cash App or other payments were made to these girls on behalf of the Congressman.

 

Even better, according to the Orlando Sentinel, Greenberg is alleged to have offered Stone $250,000 in Bitcoin if he could convince his pal Donald to grant him and Gaetz a pair of pardons. 

In a separate email, Greenberg informed Stone that he had ditched his legal team. “My lawyers that I fired, know the whole story about MG’s involvement,” he explained. “They know he paid me to pay the girls and that he and I both had sex with the girl who was underage. So naturally they think that is my golden ticket.” 

That is: to flip on Gaetz and get some of the 33 charges thrown out. But he promised he wasn’t going to flip. 

Stone, of course, got his own pardon – mainly because he didn’t flip on the president – and  it’s likely Greenberg figured birds of a felonious feather flock together.

Two convicted felons, and Gaetz, middle.

(Greenberg, right, plead guilty recently.)

Stone suggested that Greenberg play up his support for the president in a letter to the White House, asking directly for pardon. 

Greenberg replied: 

And while I haven’t had any communication with MG he absolutely has to know that the sex charge they hit me with would be what they would hit him with. All he has to do is explain to POTUS the situation and his exposure, and it would be very easy to do.

 

MG is like a son to POTUS. MG is like a brother to me.

 

Honestly, I would have thought MG would have reached out to me or tried via a third party. One conversation with POTUS and he can get this done and it all goes away.

 

Yes, indeed. Who deserves a pardon more than a couple of Trump buddies, involved at the very least in paying young women for sex! 

Basically, soliciting prostitution.

 

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SPEAKING OF sleazy dudes, Rudy Giuliani woke up at six a.m. one recent morning to hear federal agents shouting, “Open up, search warrant.” 

Apparently, Department of Justice officials believe Rudy should have registered as a foreign agent, back when he and Donald were working to dig up dirt in Ukraine on the Biden family. 

So far, details are murky. Rudy may be innocent, as we always note before trials begin. Still, it doesn’t help his case to know that Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, two close associates who were working with him in Ukraine, have long since been indicted. And they were indicted when Trump was still in office. So when Sean Hannity tries to convince viewers that the Biden team is going after Rudy unfairly, Hannity is, as he so often is, full of hot air that smells like donkey dung on his breathe. 

One area of interest involves Rudy’s efforts to get the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Maria Yovanovitch, fired. DOJ suspects that Rudy put national interests aside and had her axed because a couple of Ukrainian pals – known for their own corruption – wanted her gone.

 

We also know that Rudy, Lev, and Igor were paid handsomely by a variety of shady Eastern European characters. Part of Rudy’s work involved trying to save Ukrainian businessman Dmitry Firtash from being extradited to the U.S. on bribery and conspiracy charges. Rudy claimed at the time that he was only interested in Ukraine because he and President Trump were anxious to cleanup corruption in foreign lands. 

And while he was at it, he would earn a few hundred thousand dollars representing corrupt Ukrainian business leaders. 

Just for kicks.

 

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HAVING HAD his Twitter megaphone knocked from his grip, Trump has been reduced this spring to howling about the Oscars in an official press release. The ratings were way down, he grumbled. Format was terrible. They needed go back to calling the show “The Academy Awards.” They needed a real host. 

More importantly, the former president wanted to drum up hate for Hollywood with his base. “These television people spend all their time thinking about how to promote the Democratic Party,” he moaned, “which is destroying the County, and cancel Conservatives and Republicans.”

 

Rather than ranting about Hollywood, this blogger would have thought Mr. Trump might have issued his long lost healthcare plan.

 

POSTSCRIPT: In other odds and ends of sad news for Team Trump: Brendan Hunt, 37, a big supporter of Rejected Don, has been convicted of threatening to kill members of Congress. Hunt missed out on a chance to riot in the Capitol on January 6, but made up for it two days later by posting a video online. It was sweetly titled: “KILL YOUR SENATORS: Slaughter them all.”

 

It took a jury only three hours to decide that Hunt was serious, and dangerous, and ought to cool down in jail.

 

Also arrested: Robert Chapman, after bragging on Bumble, a dating website, that he had been part of the Capitol Hill riot. One woman he contacted about a date replied, “We are not a match.”

 

Then she called federal authorities.

 

Finally, Don Wagner, a Republican official in Orange County, California got the kind of reaction he deserved when he asked the county health director a stupid question. “In the vaccine, we heard about an injection of a tracking device. Is that being done anywhere?” he asked Dr. Clayton Chau.

 

Dr. Chau hesitated to answer for several seconds, then couldn’t help himself and started laughing.

 

He quickly apologized, adding, “There is not a vaccine with a tracking device embedded in it that I know of exists in the world. Period.”

 

May 16, 2021: Tumors of Greed

 

5/16/21: If you’re into comedy, Rep. Matt Gaetz is the gift that keeps on giving. During a speech in Ohio, the Republican lawmaker from Florida, tells an audience he’s a little lamb of innocence if you think about it.

 

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Tumors of greed.

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Sure, federal prosecutors are after him, as Gaetz puts it, for “exchanging money for naughty favors.” But he didn’t do it. 

Plus, if he did, that would be no worse than other members of Congress bringing back the practice of including earmarks in various bills, “and everybody knows that’s the corruption.”

Earmarks, if you’ve forgotten, allow a legislator to add a request to some bill that is about to pass, asking for money to be earmarked, or set aside, for example, to repair the Brent Spence Bridge, over the Ohio River. Or a Florida lawmaker, like Gaetz, might request federal funding to help clean up the red tides that have blanketed that state’s beaches so often in recent years. 

Those are earmarks.

Brent Spence Bridge over Ohio River, looking north to Cincinnati, Ohio.

 

Gaetz has allegedly paid for sex with a minor and may have been part of a sex-trafficking operation run by a friend. (That friend, Joel Greenberg, just so happened to have pled guilty to six charges the day before; so you could understand why Rep. Gaetz might have been on edge a little.) 

Several Republican candidates for various offices had been scheduled to attend the same meeting as Gaetz. They backed out after they realized he was coming.

 

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THIS SIMPLE BLOGGER happens to consider communism a hideous historical failure. That doesn’t mean you can’t reveal the warts of capitalism, which are many, and the tumors of greed. 

Frankly, if you can make money doing it or making it or selling it, including sex-trafficking minors, people will do it, make it, or sell it. When Gary Kidd heard the federal government was paying people $1,000 per head to adopt wild mustangs and give them good homes, he sniffed out profits, and a lot of horse manure. He, his wife, and several other relations adopted a number of animals, and when asked by a reporter via a phone call, Mr. Kidd reported that the horses were doing well and nibbling the grass in his pasture, as he and the reporter spoke. 

Actually, by that time, Kidd had sold all the animals he had for $20,000, “and the mustangs ended up at a dusty Texas livestock auction frequented by slaughterhouse brokers known as kill buyers.” 

When the reporter mentioned this fact, Mr. Kidd remembered he had a few imaginary horses to groom and hung up.