What a coincidence! Matt Gaetz resigns right before scandal explodes
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Sleazeball Matt Gaetz resigned from his seat in Congress on Wednesday. He did this just hours after Donald Trump shocked and appalled Democrats and Republicans alike when he nominated the accused child sex trafficker to be the country's top law enforcement officer as attorney general. Gaetz's resignation came two days before the House Ethics Committee was set to release a “highly critical” report on his personal conduct, including allegations that he had drug-fueled sex parties with minors and showed off images of his sexual exploits to fellow members on the House floor. His resignation means the Ethics Committee no longer has jurisdiction over Gaetz, and thus the probe into his behavior is now closed. Republican Rep. Michael Guest of Mississippi, chair of the House Ethics Committee, told Fox News that if Gaetz is no longer a member of Congress, then the committee won’t issue its report. “If Mr. Gaetz were to resign because he is taking a position, with the administration, as the attorney general, then the Ethics Committee loses jurisdiction at that point. Once we lose jurisdiction, there would not be a report that would be issued that's not unique to this case,” Guest told Fox. Legal experts said, however, that the committee could still release its report. “Just because he isn't subject to their jurisdiction doesn't mean the House cannot release the report,” Democratic lawyer Marc Elias wrote in a post on X. “Don't let the GOP play the helpless victim here. Tell Johnson to release the report!” "While the Committee lost their jurisdiction to sanction Gaetz for misconduct due to his resignation, they do have the authority to vote their investigative report out of Committee and make it public," Donald Sherman, the executive director and chief counsel of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, wrote in a post on X. "They should use this power and release the Gaetz report, exhibits & findings." Sherman specifically brought up former Rep. Eric Massa, who resigned in 2010 amid reports that he sexually harassed a male staff member. Even though Massa resigned in 2010, the House Ethics Committee re-authorized the investigation into Massa’s conduct in 2011. Of course, in order for the Republican-run House Ethics Committee to continue probing Gaetz and release its report it would require that GOP lawmakers had a spine. And that’s something you cannot expect from a group that bends to Trump's will, no matter how odious or even illegal Trump’s will may be. Ultimately, Trump wants Gaetz as his attorney general to carry out his agenda of punishing his perceived enemies, and releasing the ethics report into Gaetz’s conduct would jeopardize that nomination. However, one glimmer of hope for the decent people who want to see Gaetz fail is that Gaetz's fellow Republican lawmakers absolutely hate him. GOP Sen. Markwayne Mullin on Matt Gaetz: “We had all seen the videos he was showing on the House floor … of the girls that he had slept with. He’d brag about how he would crush ED medicine and chase it with an energy drink so he could go all night” (April)pic.twitter.com/dtZcAMR1bM— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) November 13, 2024 Ohio GOP Rep. Max Miller said on Wednesday that Gaetz is "literally worse than gum on the bottom of my shoe," adding that Gaetz is "a complete weirdo." Miller added that "Matt Gaetz will not be confirmed in the Senate. He’s somebody who should not be the Attorney General. I can tell you, I'm not the only one out of 200 House Republicans that is happy he is leaving this conference." GOP Rep. Max Miller: Matt Gaetz will not be confirmed in the Senate. He’s somebody who should not be the Attorney General. I can tell you, I'm not the only one out of 200 House Republicans that is happy he is leaving this conference. pic.twitter.com/Y8vrSYYxCR— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) November 14, 2024 Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has been vocal in his criticism of Gaetz’s behavior. "He had an ethics complaint four years ago that he paid an underage girl, and she has come to ethics. And he came to me to try to leverage me to stop the ethics investigation," McCarthy said on the floor of the Republican National Convention this summer. "That’s illegal. I’m not doing that. If I had to lose my job over all the hump, the law—he tried to utilize it." Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma, who served with Gaetz in the House before ascending to the Senate, told CNN earlier this year: ”There’s a reason why no one in the conference defended him. Because we had all seen the videos he was showing on the House floor, that all of us had walked away, of the girls that he had slept with. He would brag how he would crush ED medicine and chase it with an energy drink so he could go all night.” But in a sign that Republicans are unlikely to grow a pair and release the report, Mullin told CNN on Wednesday that he’s inclined to vote to confirm Gaetz as attorney general because he doesn’t want to disobey Trump. “I completely trust President Trump’s decision-making on this one,” Mullin told CNN on Wednesday. THE TOP @CNNThisMorning: Trump picks Gaetz Sen. Markwayne Mullin once said Matt Gaetz would “brag about how he would crush ED [erectile dysfunction] medicine and chase it with an energy drink so he could go all night” Now Mullin says: “I completely trust President Trump’s… pic.twitter.com/8Lw83pSKjd— Kasie Hunt (@kasie) November 14, 2024 How easily they cave when Dear Leader tells them to. Campaign Action
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/11/14/2286163/-What-a-coincidence-Matt-Gaetz-resigns-right-before-scandal-explodes?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main
Sleazeball Matt Gaetz resigned from his seat in Congress on Wednesday. He did this just hours after Donald Trump shocked and appalled Democrats and Republicans alike when he nominated the accused child sex trafficker to be the country's top law enforcement officer as attorney general. Gaetz's resignation came two days before the House Ethics Committee was set to release a “highly critical” report on his personal conduct, including allegations that he had drug-fueled sex parties with minors and showed off images of his sexual exploits to fellow members on the House floor. His resignation means the Ethics Committee no longer has jurisdiction over Gaetz, and thus the probe into his behavior is now closed. Republican Rep. Michael Guest of Mississippi, chair of the House Ethics Committee, told Fox News that if Gaetz is no longer a member of Congress, then the committee won’t issue its report. “If Mr. Gaetz were to resign because he is taking a position, with the administration, as the attorney general, then the Ethics Committee loses jurisdiction at that point. Once we lose jurisdiction, there would not be a report that would be issued that's not unique to this case,” Guest told Fox. Legal experts said, however, that the committee could still release its report. “Just because he isn't subject to their jurisdiction doesn't mean the House cannot release the report,” Democratic lawyer Marc Elias wrote in a post on X. “Don't let the GOP play the helpless victim here. Tell Johnson to release the report!” "While the Committee lost their jurisdiction to sanction Gaetz for misconduct due to his resignation, they do have the authority to vote their investigative report out of Committee and make it public," Donald Sherman, the executive director and chief counsel of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, wrote in a post on X. "They should use this power and release the Gaetz report, exhibits & findings." Sherman specifically brought up former Rep. Eric Massa, who resigned in 2010 amid reports that he sexually harassed a male staff member. Even though Massa resigned in 2010, the House Ethics Committee re-authorized the investigation into Massa’s conduct in 2011. Of course, in order for the Republican-run House Ethics Committee to continue probing Gaetz and release its report it would require that GOP lawmakers had a spine. And that’s something you cannot expect from a group that bends to Trump's will, no matter how odious or even illegal Trump’s will may be. Ultimately, Trump wants Gaetz as his attorney general to carry out his agenda of punishing his perceived enemies, and releasing the ethics report into Gaetz’s conduct would jeopardize that nomination. However, one glimmer of hope for the decent people who want to see Gaetz fail is that Gaetz's fellow Republican lawmakers absolutely hate him. GOP Sen. Markwayne Mullin on Matt Gaetz: “We had all seen the videos he was showing on the House floor … of the girls that he had slept with. He’d brag about how he would crush ED medicine and chase it with an energy drink so he could go all night” (April)pic.twitter.com/dtZcAMR1bM— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) November 13, 2024 Ohio GOP Rep. Max Miller said on Wednesday that Gaetz is "literally worse than gum on the bottom of my shoe," adding that Gaetz is "a complete weirdo." Miller added that "Matt Gaetz will not be confirmed in the Senate. He’s somebody who should not be the Attorney General. I can tell you, I'm not the only one out of 200 House Republicans that is happy he is leaving this conference." GOP Rep. Max Miller: Matt Gaetz will not be confirmed in the Senate. He’s somebody who should not be the Attorney General. I can tell you, I'm not the only one out of 200 House Republicans that is happy he is leaving this conference. pic.twitter.com/Y8vrSYYxCR— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) November 14, 2024 Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has been vocal in his criticism of Gaetz’s behavior. "He had an ethics complaint four years ago that he paid an underage girl, and she has come to ethics. And he came to me to try to leverage me to stop the ethics investigation," McCarthy said on the floor of the Republican National Convention this summer. "That’s illegal. I’m not doing that. If I had to lose my job over all the hump, the law—he tried to utilize it." Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma, who served with Gaetz in the House before ascending to the Senate, told CNN earlier this year: ”There’s a reason why no one in the conference defended him. Because we had all seen the videos he was showing on the House floor, that all of us had walked away, of the girls that he had slept with. He would brag how he would crush ED medicine and chase it with an energy drink so he could go all night.” But in a sign that Republicans are unlikely to grow a pair and release the report, Mullin told CNN on Wednesday that he’s inclined to vote to confirm Gaetz as attorney general because he doesn’t want to disobey Trump. “I completely trust President Trump’s decision-making on this one,” Mullin told CNN on Wednesday. THE TOP @CNNThisMorning: Trump picks Gaetz Sen. Markwayne Mullin once said Matt Gaetz would “brag about how he would crush ED [erectile dysfunction] medicine and chase it with an energy drink so he could go all night” Now Mullin says: “I completely trust President Trump’s… pic.twitter.com/8Lw83pSKjd— Kasie Hunt (@kasie) November 14, 2024 How easily they cave when Dear Leader tells them to. Campaign Action
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/11/14/2286163/-What-a-coincidence-Matt-Gaetz-resigns-right-before-scandal-explodes?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main