The allegations of sex trafficking against Matt Gaetz are a bizarre story. First broken by the New York Times, the story alleges that Gaetz had a 17-year-old girlfriend he flew across state lines and compensated for sexual favors. The Justice Department investigation, the Times says, is tied to a Gaetz ally in Florida, Joel Greenberg - who himself is headed to trial in June for similar sex-based crimes.
The Times story is based on statements from three unnamed sources. Gaetz’s statements to the outlets indicate he knew he was being investigated and that it had “something to do with women.” Gaetz in another statement also said he was being targeted because he has “definitely, in my single days, provided for women I've dated.”
Last night, just hours after the Times broke their story and Axios followed-up with a similar story, Gaetz appeared on Tucker Carlson’s Fox News show to give his side of the story.
Calling the accusations “verifiably false” and claiming he was being blackmailed by a former Justice Department official, Gaetz’s statements on Carlson’s show sounded a little more bizarre, though one could credit that to being flustered over the sudden whirlwind of allegations and coverage. In the Carlson interview, Gaetz dropped the name of the ex-Justice Department official, David McGee, and claimed the official was trying to extort millions of dollars from him by contacting Gaetz’s father and threatening to releases these allegations.
Gaetz went on to say that his family went to local FBI in Florida, and they had his father wear a wire in a meeting with the alleged extortionist (NOTE: RedState, where I am a senior editor, has confirmed through its own sources that Gaetz’s father did wear a wire as a criminal informant, though the specifics of the investigation were not detailed).
Carlson himself would call the interview bizarre.
Both sides of the political aisle have staked their claims in this fight. Predictably, the left has determined he is guilty. Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Ca.) has declared Gaetz should be removed from the Judiciary Committee in the House. Activists have called for him to be removed from office.
On the right, the fact that the Times used unnamed sources and that it’s been wrong on so many stories about Republicans in recent memory has convinced conservatives that the story is made up.
Mind you, Gaetz acknowledges the investigation and the allegations are real, but has maintained it was part of an extortion attempt. So, on some level, it’s not “fake,” but it’s not automatically 100% accurate either. There are some unknowns still in the equation.
There is in America a very important point of order that has to be made, and always has to be made, in stories where a politician is alleged to have done something serious (like sex trafficking). It is a standard that every alleged criminal faces: Innocent until proven guilty.
I have no idea whether or not Gaetz is guilty, and my personal distaste of him notwithstanding, he should be treated as such. Andrew Cuomo, likewise, is innocent until proven guilty even though we now have eight women who have accused him of inappropriate sexual conduct and documents showing he lied about nursing home deaths.
It would be very easy for me to call for either man to resign. It is a much different thing, however, to declare that either is automatically guilty. That is for the justice system to decide, and in the case of Gaetz, they appear to be trying to come to a conclusion one way or the other.
One point in Gaetz’s favor is that he is calling for all records in the matter to be released, which is a bold move if there really is something to hide. It’s possible incriminating evidence comes out and he claims that there is “more” yet to be released - he is a disciple of Trumpism and has fully bought into the idolatry of the movement - but he is inviting that situation by demanding everything be made public. Cuomo, who has a lot of evidence against him made public already, is simply not taking responsibility and has been quick to limit any and all transparency in response.
Politicians like Katie Hill, Al Franken, Mark Foley, and so many others, have been brought down by sex scandals but very rarely does anything get investigated by law enforcement over them. In the case of politicians like Bob Menendez of New Jersey, the justice system has prevailed in his favor - he is not guilty of what he was claimed to have done, but conservatives still attack him over the allegations anyway.
I imagine the Menendez example will best apply here. Gaetz could ultimately be cleared by the Justice Department, but that won’t stop the mudslinging from the left, which is a shameful reality of the political landscape we live in.
Yes, Matt Gaetz is innocent until proven guilty, and we have no way of knowing right now whether he will be found guilty of anything or not. But people who are branding him a sexual deviant now do so with no concrete evidence.