{"id":34698,"date":"2024-11-13T19:34:42","date_gmt":"2024-11-14T01:34:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/?p=34698"},"modified":"2024-11-13T19:34:46","modified_gmt":"2024-11-14T01:34:46","slug":"matt-gaetz-once-faced-a-sex-trafficking-investigation-by-the-justice-department-he-could-now-lead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/?p=34698","title":{"rendered":"Matt Gaetz once faced a sex trafficking investigation by the Justice Department he could now lead"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 President-elect Donald Trump\u2019s pick for attorney general, Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, was once embroiled in a sex trafficking investigation<\/u><\/a> by the Justice Department he\u2019s been tapped to lead, and has been under scrutiny by the House Ethics Committee<\/u><\/a> over allegations including sexual misconduct.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That probe effectively ended Wednesday, though, when Gaetz resigned from Congress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gaetz, a staunch Trump defender, has spent years enmeshed in scandals<\/u><\/a> that threaten to derail his confirmation as the nation\u2019s top federal law enforcement officer by the Republican-led Senate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gaetz has vehemently denied any wrongdoing, and said last year<\/u><\/a> that the Justice Department\u2019s investigation into sex trafficking allegations involving underage girls had ended with no federal charges against him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump\u2019s attorney general is expected to oversee radical changes to the Justice Department, which has been the target of Trump\u2019s ire over two criminal cases<\/u><\/a> it brought accusing him of conspiring to overturn the 2020 election<\/u><\/a> and hoarding classified documents<\/u><\/a> at his Mar-a-Lago estate. Trump, who cast himself as the victim of politically motivated prosecutions, vowed repeatedly on the campaign trail to carry out retribution<\/u><\/a> against his political enemies if returned to the White House.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s unlikely Gaetz would be confirmed in time to oversee special counsel Jack Smith, who brought two federal indictments against Trump that are both expected to wind down before the incoming president takes office.<\/u><\/a> Smith is expected to leave his post before Trump takes office, but special counsels are expected to produce reports on their work that historically are made public, and it remains unclear when such a document might be released.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a statement Wednesday announcing his pick, Trump said Gaetz would root out \u201csystemic corruption\u201d at the Justice Department and return the department \u201cto its true mission of fighting crime and upholding our democracy and constitution.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Gaetz wrote, \u201cIt will be an honor to serve as President Trump\u2019s Attorney General!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hours before the announcement, Gaetz said in a social media post<\/u><\/a> that there needs to be a \u201cfull court press against this WEAPONIZED government.\u201d He added, \u201cAnd if that means ABOLISHING every one of the three letter agencies, from the FBI to the ATF, I\u2019m ready to get going!\u201d If confirmed as attorney general, he would oversee both the FBI and the ATF, formally known as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inside a private meeting of House Republicans, the news that Trump had chosen Gaetz to lead the Justice Department sent a shock. Republican Rep. Mike Simpson of Idaho said he has a hard time believing Gaetz will be able to get through the Senate confirmation process. Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska said she didn\u2019t believe Gaetz was a serious candidate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of Gaetz\u2019 allies in the House defended him as Trump\u2019s pick, pointing to his experience as a member on the House Judiciary Committee. Asked Wednesday whether she thinks Gaetz could be confirmed, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, a fellow Florida Republican, told reporters that many will try to \u201csmear him,\u201d but \u201cthe evidence will speak for itself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The federal sex trafficking investigation that began under Attorney General Bill Barr during Trump\u2019s first term focused on allegations that Gaetz and onetime political ally Joel Greenberg<\/u><\/a> paid underage girls and escorts or offered them gifts in exchange for sex.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Greenberg, a fellow Republican who served as the tax collector in Florida\u2019s Seminole County, admitted as part of a plea deal<\/u><\/a> with prosecutors in 2021 that he paid women and an underage girl to have sex with him and other men. The men were not identified in court documents when he pleaded guilty. Greenberg was sentenced<\/u><\/a> in late 2022 to 11 years in prison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Federal investigators scrutinized a trip that Gaetz took to the Bahamas with a group of women and a doctor who donated to his campaign, and whether the women were paid or received gifts to have sex with the men, according to people familiar with the matter who were not allowed to publicly discuss the investigation. Prosecutors also investigated whether Gaetz and his associates tried to secure government jobs for some of the women, and scrutinized Gaetz\u2019s connections to the medical marijuana sector<\/u><\/a>, including whether his associates sought to influence legislation Gaetz sponsored, the people have said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gaetz had remained under investigation by the House Ethics Committee over allegations that he was part of a scheme that led to the sex trafficking of a 17-year-old girl.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The committee began<\/u><\/a> its review of Gaetz in April 2021, deferred its work in response to a Justice Department request, and renewed its work shortly after Gaetz announced<\/u><\/a> that the Justice Department had ended a sex trafficking investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the summer, the committee provided an unusual public update into its long-running investigation, saying its review now includes whether Gaetz engaged in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, accepted improper gifts and sought to obstruct government investigations of his conduct. Gaetz has categorically denied all the allegations before the committee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rep. Michael Guest, the Republican chair of the House Ethics Committee, had told The Associated Press that Gaetz\u2019s nomination did not change the panel\u2019s ongoing probe. But Gaetz\u2019s resignation means the committee will no longer have jurisdiction to continue its probe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

apnews<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 President-elect Donald Trump\u2019s pick for attorney general, Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, was once embroiled in a sex trafficking investigation by the Justice Department he\u2019s been tapped to lead, and has been under scrutiny by the House Ethics Committee over allegations including sexual misconduct. That probe effectively ended Wednesday, though, when Gaetz resigned from Congress. Gaetz, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":34699,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[2029,1899,31195,7706,1230],"class_list":["post-34698","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-doj","tag-investigation","tag-matt-gates","tag-sex-trafficking","tag-trump"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34698","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=34698"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34698\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34700,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34698\/revisions\/34700"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/34699"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=34698"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=34698"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=34698"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}