Over the past two days, it was as if there was a new allegation against Representative Matt Gaetz (R-FL) every time I glanced at the latest headlines.
The New York Times first reported that Gaetz is under investigation for possible child sex trafficking after he allegedly paid or rewarded an underage girl for sex, but that is apparently just one thing among many others that Gaetz has been up to during his time in office.
The Times now reports that Gaetz is under investigation for paying multiple other women for sex, not just one underage girl.
Investigators believe Joel Greenberg, the former tax collector in Seminole County, Fla., who was indicted last year on a federal sex trafficking charge and other crimes, initially met the women through websites that connect people who go on dates in exchange for gifts, fine dining, travel and allowances, according to three people with knowledge of the encounters. Mr. Greenberg introduced the women to Mr. Gaetz, who also had sex with them, the people said. [...]
The Justice Department inquiry is also examining whether Mr. Gaetz had sex with a 17-year-old girl and whether she received anything of material value, according to four people familiar with the investigation. The sex trafficking count against Mr. Greenberg involved the same girl, according to two people briefed on the investigation.
According to the Daily Beast, federal authorities initially began their investigation of Gaetz because his partner-in-crime, Joel Greenberg, accompanied Gaetz to the office one night where they apparently tried to forge an ID for Gaetz. That's how authorities got on the trail of a sex trafficking ring.
The Beast obtained text messages that show Greenberg explicitly telling one of his employees he needed help creating an ID for Gaetz.
The Daily Beast obtained images of additional text messages that purport to show Greenberg helping Gaetz get duplicate IDs—outside of proper channels on a Sunday afternoon. On Sept. 2, 2018, Greenberg directly asked an employee to quickly create a new card that complies with the heightened security standards of “REAL ID,” a process that would normally require providing additional documentation, according to the images.
“Amy- is there anyway to assist one of our Congressmen in getting an emergency replacement ID or DL by Tuesday 2pm? His was lost yesterday and he’s got a flight Tuesday. Doesn’t have any other form of ID currently on him. Sorry to bother you on Sunday,” Greenberg wrote.
It's possible that only a handful of people knew what Gaetz was really doing, but CNN reports that Gaetz routinely shared photos of women with his fellow lawmakers in Congress who apparently had no problem with his behavior prior to now.
Gaetz allegedly showed off to other lawmakers photos and videos of nude women he said he had slept with, the sources told CNN, including while on the House floor. The sources, including two people directly shown the material, said Gaetz displayed the images of women on his phone and talked about having sex with them. One of the videos showed a naked woman with a hula hoop, according to one source.
"It was a point of pride," one of the sources said of Gaetz.
Gaetz and his fellow creeps in Florida's legislature also reportedly turned this into a game.
Sources said Gaetz was part of a group of young male lawmakers who created a "game" to score their female sexual conquests, which granted "points" for various targets such as interns, staffers or other female colleagues in the state House. One of the targets of the scoring system was a group the lawmakers had heard were "virgins," according to a source. The scoring system by male Florida lawmakers was previously reported by the Miami Herald.
You know, a bunch of grown-ass, middle-aged congressmen passing around nude photos of women like they're baseball cards is gross enough, but passing around photos of women that you actually paid to sleep with is a whole other level of dishonest sleaze. They weren't his "conquests." He was their client.
Every lawmaker who knew about this or participated in it should be exposed.