Virtually all of Trump’s cabinet picks have resulted in the left throwing a fit, but no one has sparked more controversy than former Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz, who is poised to replace Merrick Garland as attorney general should the Senate confirm him.
Besides being unapologetically brash and outspoken against the establishment, Gaetz is ruffling feathers because he’s had some serious allegations filed against him, the most notable being accusations of sex trafficking.
However, no indictments have followed, meaning that the scandal has either been buried intentionally or the accusations are false and this entire ordeal is a smear campaign.
Liz Wheeler is leaning towards the latter.
“We are going to untangle exactly who is behind the accusations against Matt Gaetz,” she says. “When you hear the whole story written out in a timeline of exactly what happened, when it happened, it is quite a phenomenal story.”
“Whenever [Gaetz] is mentioned in the mainstream media, for example, he’s always mentioned as being under ethics review by the U.S. House or having faced sex trafficking allegations,” she points out.
It’s important to establish that “people in Washington D.C. don’t like Matt Gaetz,” partially because “he was kind of a playboy,” partially because “he’s kind of obnoxious,” but most importantly because he’s been “a fighter for Trump” since 2016, she explains, adding that immediately following his election to Congress, Gaetz began butting heads with establishment GOPers.
“What happens in Washington, D.C., when you’re disliked by the establishment is that makes you a target,” Liz explains.
And that seems to be exactly what happened to him.
In 2020, the FBI suddenly started investigating Matt Gaetz for “allegedly having a relationship with a minor — a 17-year-old girl — … and paying for her to travel over state lines.”
“If an allegation like this is true, then that’s the definition of sex trafficking,” says Liz. “So that’s where the sex trafficking allegations come into play.”
However, the person who enlightened the FBI to Gaetz’ alleged crimes is a scandal in and of himself.
The accuser’s name is Joel Greenberg, and he’s a former Florida tax collector who was indicted on 33 criminal accounts, including sex trafficking, theft, stalking, and cryptocurrency fraud, among others. Greenberg alleged that he was friends with Matt Gaetz.
Following Greenberg’s accusations, the Department of Justice began investigating Gaetz for a period of two years.
While the investigation was going on, “Gaetz said that he and his dad were the victims or were targeted for extortion.”
And he was correct — a businessman named Stephen Alford indeed tried to extort Don Gaetz for $25 million in exchange for making the investigation against his son “go away.”
“Gaetz and his dad instead cooperated with the local FBI office, and it resulted in Alford’s arrest, and he pled guilty to extortion,” says Liz.
Fast forward to later in 2022, and Biden’s DOJ announced it would not bring any charges against Matt Gaetz. The investigation was closed because both Greenberg and the 17-year-old girl Gaetz allegedly trafficked were found to be “non-credible.”
“In other words, they were such bad liars that even the Biden Department of Justice thought, ‘There’s no way that these two could be believable,”’ says Liz. “This is the Biden Department of Justice — the Biden Department of Justice that invents things in order to target their political enemy. … There was so much nothing to these allegations that even the Biden DOJ dropped them.”
But there’s another layer to the story.
Back in 2021, an ethics investigation was opened on Matt Gaetz but was soon paused when the DOJ began its investigation into the sex trafficking allegations.
Then, in 2022, before former speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy was elected, certain GOPers demanded a “series of reforms,” one of them being “that any single member of the House of Representatives could motion to vacate the chair.”
“Well, that fight was led by Matt Gaetz,” says Liz. Kevin McCarthy, who was ousted and replaced by Mike Johnson in 2023 as a result of the policy Gaetz championed, “hates Matt Gaetz.”
Prior to his removal, “the McCarthy-led House revived the ethics investigation.”
“In October 2023, Matt Gaetz motioned to vacate the chair, and McCarthy became the first speaker in U.S. history to be ousted,” says Liz.
“Kevin McCarthy claims that Matt Gaetz did this to squash the ethics investigation into him. Gaetz claims it’s because McCarthy was failing to uphold his promises, and now here we are in 2024. Matt Gaetz is nominated by president-elect Trump to be attorney general of the Department of Justice of the United States of America,” Liz explains.
The nomination led to Gaetz resigning from Congress, meaning that he can no longer be investigated by the Ethics Committee. Further, any reports it may possess “cannot be released publicly” now.
Liz calls the scandals surrounding Gaetz “personal, petty, political grievances”; “a character assassination of the worst kind”; and a “smear campaign from the depths of hell.”
To hear more of her commentary, watch the episode above.
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The liz wheeler show, Liz wheeler, Matt gaetz, Kevin mccarthy, Sex trafficking allegations, Blazetv, Blaze media, Joel greenberg