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Gaetz's long history of sex crime allegations and misusing taxpayer funds put him right in line with Trump.
He's against drag, but he wears makeup. He attacks LGBTQ+ people as "groomers" but is accused of having sexual relations with minors. He's going to run the Department of Justice after being investigated by it.
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That's right, Matt Gaetz has been selected by Donald Trump to be the next attorney general of the United States. Birds of a feather really do flock together — in this case, probable jailbirds. Gaetz's long history of sex crime allegations and accusations of misusing taxpayer funds put him right in line with Trump, though it remains unclear if his status will protect him as it has the former president.
Gaetz resigned from his position as a Florida congressman Wednesday ahead of a bombshell U.S. House Ethics Committee report that was set to be released Friday. As he is no longer a representative, the committee no longer has the authority to investigate Gaetz, but even Republicans have been pushing the committee to still release its findings so they can have the full context they need before confirming him.
All the context you need about Gaetz is already available — and it's already damning. Here's everything you need to know about the man who could be America's next AG.
Gaetz is currently being investigated by the House Ethics Committee over claims he had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old, who he allegedly paid to travel with him, as well as lobbying violations.
The congressman's former best friend, Joel Greenberg, was sentenced to 11 years in prison in May 2021, after pleading guilty to federal charges of wire fraud and sex trafficking a minor. Greenberg was a witness in the investigation and claimed that Gaetz was involved in many of his crimes.
Suspiciously, Gaetz was also the only representative to vote against the Combating Human Trafficking in Commercial Vehicles Act in 2017.
Greenberg wrote a letter in late 2020 obtained by The Daily Beast that sought a presidential pardon from then-PresidentDonald Trump, providing damning details about Gaetz’s alleged role in his crimes. Greenberg claimed that the two of them had paid for sex with several women, including a minor. Greenberg said that he facilitated the payments for Gaetz and described multiple Venmo and Cash App transactions made to the underage girl and other women. Greenberg also admitted to arranging the sexual encounters for Gaetz.
Civil court documents unsealed in September found that Gaetz attended a drug and sex party in 2017 with a 17-year-old girl. The documents include affidavits from three women who testified that Gaetz was present during the party, where illegal drugs such as cocaine and ecstasy were used, and where sexual activities took place involving a minor who was naked. Geolocation data from that night also confirms his presence.
Gaetz came under fire in 2018 for inviting Charles C. Johnson, a Holocaust denier, to a State of the Union address. Gaetz defended Johnson, who claimed on Reddit that “I do not and never have believed the six million figure," by asserting that he is “not a Holocaust denier, he’s not a white supremacist."
Gaetz has attended rallies held by the Proud Boys, which has been designated a white nationalist "hate group" by the Southern Poverty Law Center. He also hired speechwriter Darren Beattie in 2019 after he was fired by the Trump administration for attending a white nationalist conference.
Gaetz often repeats the debunked claims that the 2020 election was stolen and has openly supported the January 6 rioters. His 2021 America First Tour with Georgia U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene hit a snag when a venue canceled on them for spouting election denial theories at their previous stops. He was also one of the few representatives who voted against a resolution awarding the Congressional Gold Medal to officers who protected lawmakers on January 6, 2021.
Gaetz has attacked local drag performances and even those held by the Pentagon in a tradition dating back to World War II, with his efforts leading to the cancellation of shows. He once said that "if the Republicans are gonna dress up like Democrats in drag, then I will lead the fight against them, too."
Gaetz will apparently have to "fight" himself, as one scene in the HBO documentary The Swampshows him applying makeup before an appearance on television.
Gaetz has supported Trump’s false claims that children are somehow receiving gender-affirming surgeries in schools, something that has never happened and has no evidence behind it. Gaetz refused to address the factual inaccuracies when asked directly by The Advocatein September, instead spreading more false claims that parents in blue states like California are "at risk of losing parental rights" if they don't support their child's identity.
In reality, California's Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill last year that would have made judges consider if a parent affirmed their child's gender identity in issues related to custody or visitation rights.
Gaetz spearheaded the effort to oust Speaker of the House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy after becoming enraged by McCarthy's willingness to work with Democrats in passing spending legislation that avoided a government shutdown. To get rid of McCarthy, Gaetz formed an alliance with House Democrats and voted in line with them.
Gaetz refused to support the Equality Act, which would amend existing civil rights law to ban discrimination against people based on sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, housing, public accommodations, and beyond. His reasoning given during a House Judiciary Committee meeting was truly bizarre.
"If President Trump were to say, 'I am now the first female president,' who would celebrate that?" he said.
Gaetz claimed that he was "concerned about the potential bad actors who would exploit the provisions for their own gain," asserting that people would pretend to be trans for the supposed benefits — yet another statement with no evidence behind it.
Gaetz strangely and incorrectly argued in a 2022 House Judiciary Committee hearing on the overturning of Roe v. Wade that the availability of abortion makes it harder for LGBTQ+ people to become parents, which he claimed to be concerned about.
Gaetz, who has referred to the LGBTQ+ community as "degenerate," disingenuously asked the Human Rights Campaign's legal director, Sarah Warbelow, if she is "concerned" that "if the LGBTQ community and advocacy organizations for same-sex couples somehow reorient to be a pro-abortion enterprise, that could actually result in fewer same-sex couples having access to the family formation that gives them fulfilled lives."
Warbelow simply replied, "What I would be concerned about is forcing women to carry a pregnancy simply to satisfy another couple's desire to have a child."
