As a Moderate, I was following all the Matt Gaetz alleged improprieties with his friend, Joel Greenberg and anxiously awaiting an investigation and indictment. So what happened? I thought Scummy Greenberg was going to turn State's evidence and implicate Greasy Gaetz? I thought it was going to be a homerun prosecution? Looks like that is NOT the case, unfortunately.
Matt Gaetz has so much respect for women | Page 6 | Swamp Gas Forums (gatorcountry.com) discussed here
The DOJ chickened out despite having plenty of evidence of Gaetz's wrongdoing. BTW, I got a kick out of the comment from Greenberg's lawyer: “To be fair, why expend resources prosecuting the privileged, when there’s undoubtedly a minority out there with a small amount of pot?”
The determination by DOJ that there was not sufficient evidence to ensure conviction is about as far from "exonerating" Gaetz as you can get.
As a moderate... let me open a thread about how exonerated Matt Gaetz is! I didnt make it passed that. Was there more to the post?
You were/are a prosecutor, IIRC. How typical is that? Because I've seen prosecutors pursue plenty of borderline cases over the years and let the jury decide whether to convict. It seems to me that the DOJ isn't going after Gaetz because they're worried if he's not convicted, they'll look bad. It doesn't seem like normal people get that same privilege.
In my experience, The Feds are far more likely to decline a case unless there is a high likelihood of conviction than are their state court counterparts. When I worked for the state there were many cases over the years I attempted to refer over due to the prospects of much more serious sentences on the federal level that were turned down for that reason. I successfully concluded them in state court.
The DOJ dropped that investigation. Florida dropped it a long time ago. But the Dems still think that his arrest in imminent...Lol. LMFAO at the way CNN phrases it in the link below. First on CNN: DOJ officially decides not to charge Matt Gaetz in sex-trafficking probe | CNN Politics
Apparently the criminal investigation is over, but recent reporting about the House ethics committee is interesting. Can't help but think back to that really odd moment when the one member got up very close to Gaetz and said something to him toward the end of the votes for House speaker. Florida's Gaetz back under the microscope: Renewed ethics investigation into misconduct claims House Ethics Committee Revives Matt Gaetz Sex Misconduct Probe: Report
If he hired adult escorts, I'm not going to act morally outraged about that, although a member of Congress being susceptible to blackmail is a concern. If there were minors involved, that's a different issue, and the publicity around child sex trafficking right now might put more focus on it. But I'm surprised the House ethics committee would be looking at this if the DOJ didn't think there was a basis to charge anything. Maybe the ethics committee knows something we don't or perhaps there's some inside baseball stuff going on relating to the Freedom Caucus fiascos.
Breakdown … Not exonerated by MSM Exonerated by alternative media Not exonerated by Democrats Exonerated by Republicans
All this while our federal government lets children get trafficked into the United States on a daily basis. You really can't make UP this type of hypocrisy. Letting just one kid with their "uncle" into the U.S.A. should be a crime.
Not exonerated, just found to have insufficient evidence for prosecution. I have no idea what the House is looking at or why.
I think the DOJ may have had a basis to charge Gaetz, but it didn't want to look "weaponized" and have to face the wrath of Jim Jordan. Especially since the DOJ, according to the Republicans, has gone so overboard to try to get Al Capone - I mean Donald Trump. Speaking (accidentally) of Capone, the feds finally got him for tax evasion. They can't even get Trump on that. They got Hunter Biden for it, but Joe, echoing the biblical Moses, said "Let my offspring go." A movie was in the works on all this, but the actors have gone on strike, partly because no one wants to play Matt Gaetz. Even Hollywood's best make-believe villains have their standards.
The original allegation involved a 17 year old girl. Obviously those Venmo payments to her were damning, but if she was paid off and not cooperating it’s hard to bring a criminal case. The whole thing may have been to extract payment (not a stretch of the imagination if there were already payments for services rendered). The other possibility is that she lied about her age or had false id. It is kind of funny the ethics committee is looking, considering their bar seems to be much, much lower.
Thaaaatttttsss a reach if I’ve ever seen one. So, the DOJ will indict a former POTUS, but not a Congressman from Florida, for fear of it being seen as “weaponizing”? Especially considering the alleged underlying crime? If they had enough evidence to bring Gaetz down, they would absolutely 100% do it and I would support them in doing so. This is an either he did or he didn’t do it scenario and if he did it, Jordan won’t want to have anything to do with Gaetz. Nor will any Republican.
This Jim Jordan? https://www.si.com/.amp/more-sports/2020/02/12/jim-jordan-accused-cover-up-sexual-abuse-ohio-state