Rep. Matt Gaetz, a three-term Republican congressman from Florida and a staunch supporter of former President Donald Trump, is currently embroiled in a major scandal. On March 30, The New York Times first reported that an inquiry into Gaetz had been opened by the Department of Justice in the final months of the Trump administration, looking into allegations over Gaetz having a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl in 2019 and whether he had violated federal sex trafficking laws.
Gaetz was first elected into Congress in November 2016 and begun his service in Congress in 2017. The district he represents, part of Florida’s panhandle, is Florida’s most Republican-leaning district, with a Cook Partisan Voting Index of R+22, making it one of the most Republican nationally. He is one of Trump’s most loyal supporters in Congress and one of the most far-right members of Congress. Early in the pandemic last year, he mocked the seriousness of the concern over COVID-19, voted against certifying the results of the 2020 election even after the Capitol riot, tried to break up an investigation into Trump the first time Democrats moved to impeach him in 2019 by barging past security into a secure room, attended an event last year where the Proud Boys allegedly provided security, and invited a Holocaust denier to the State of the Union address in 2018.
Back in 2017, Gaetz was the only member in any house of Congress to vote against a law giving the federal government more money and power to investigate and fight human trafficking, claiming that voters did “not send me to Washington to go and create more federal government.”
That vote is coming into scrutiny now that it has been revealed that the Department of Justice is investigating Gaetz over a sexual relationship he might have had with a 17-year-old and paid her to travel with him, which could violate federal sex trafficking statutes making it illegal for persons under 18 to participate in interstate travel in exchange for money, sex, or other items of value, according to The New York Times, which first reported on the investigation on March 30. No charges have yet been filed.
The investigation is part of a broader investigation into sex trafficking allegations of Joel Greenberg, an ally of Gaetz and an elected local official in Florida. Greenberg was indicted last year over sex trafficking of a child and financially supporting people in exchange for sex (including at least one underage girl). The investigation into Gaetz was opened in the final months of the Trump administration by the DOJ.
Gaetz completely denied the allegations and claimed that they were part of an extortion plot against him and his family, calling the investigation an “organized criminal extortion,” and asserted that the leak to the media was “intended to thwart that investigation.”
On April 1, CNN reported that Gaetz had also allegedly shown off to other lawmakers in Congress photos and videos of nude women on his phone he said he had slept with, although there is no indication that this is in any way connected to the DOJ investigation.
Although Gaetz denied that he was considering resigning from Congress, right before the news broke that the DOJ was investigating him, Axios had reported that Gaetz was considering leaving Congress in order to get a job at Newsmax, a right-wing conservative media outlet.
In fact, the week since the Axios report broke has been nothing but pain for Gaetz. Besides the rumors that he would be leaving Congress and the fact that the DOJ was investigating him, The New York Times further reported this Tuesday that Gaetz had allegedly sought a blanket preemptive pardon from Trump to absolve himself and other allies of any crimes they might have committed, a request that was ultimately left unfulfilled by Trump. The White House had been concerned that giving out such preemptive pardons would set a bad precedent.
And despite his unwavering loyalty to Trump, so far, hardly any members of the Republican establishment, including Trump himself, have rushed to his defense. Trump has remained silent on the issue, and Kevin McCarthy, the House Minority Leader, has only said that he would speak to Gaetz privately about the matter and that these were “serious implications,” and would remove Gaetz from the House Judiciary Committee if the investigations were true. Some Republicans, including Rep. David Valadao, R-Calif., have said that he would be donating contributions from Gaetz to organizations supporting victims of domestic abuse in an effort to distance themselves from Gaetz.
Two far-right Republican representatives did come to Gaetz’s defense, however, including Reps. Jim Jordan and Marjorie Taylor Greene, both who are staunch Trump allies. Greene is a conspiracy theorist who was stripped of all her committee assignments earlier this year.
The House is current in the middle of a two-week recess due to Easter, so it’s been particularly easy for Republicans to avoid the topic of Gaetz. However, it could change next week when Congress returns.
In any case, Gaetz’s days as an elected official are likely numbered. With few Republicans rushing to defend him in the wake of these serious allegations out of fear of political repercussions, even if Gaetz is not indicted in the end, he will certainly be vilified and Democrats might even try to tie him to the face of the Republican Party. It is ironic, however, that the party of Evangelical Christians has not come out and denounced his wrongdoings.