Trump Nominates Matt Gaetz as Attorney General

MAGA has yet to tell us why Gaetz would ask Trump for a pardon if he knew he was innocent

 

Part of what is interesting is that Joel Greenberg was charged with sex trafficking and that seemed to involve the same transactions. Was one of the reported fake IDs Greenberg had used for the minor at issue in the Gaetz investigation? Even if so, maybe it would be possible that Gaetz didn’t know her true age; however, I thought that mistake or misrepresentation of a minor’s age isn’t a defense to most sex crimes?

 

This.

It's almost like once an associate's conviction is made, that associate apparently suddenly no longer has credibility to testify against the more powerful person. Just like with Trump and Michael Cohen.

Wait, there's no "almost" about it. That's exactly what happened. In both cases. A total perversion of "justice."


And now that an alleged pedophile has been nominated the lead the Department of Justice (!!), and the Republican Party leadership has coalesced around preventing release of evidence that may indicate that person's crimes......

.....all we can do is grab some popcorn and watch Donald Trump lead the nation into an even greater lawless moral abyss. Just like we all knew and said would happen.

 

Meh. "That's reasonable." It comes off more as a CYA than anything. If Gaetz was showing pics or videos of underage girls to House members on the floor, don't you think they would have reported it to the Capitol Police? I'm not defending what Gaetz did on the House floor, because I wasn't there and I don't know what was said or shown, but him bragging about sexual exploits (with adults) doesn't make him guilty of what the DOJ was investigating. And again, the DOJ should be viewed as a higher authority here than Mullin. They would have all the means available to them to investigate the allegations and they would have all the motivation in the world to charge Gaetz if the charges had any chance of sticking. They chose not to.

The fact that the allegations stem directly from Joel Greenberg, a known fraudster and someone known for framing a teacher for sexual misconduct with a minor, should cause honest fact-seekers pause. I mean, the guy is already on the hook for trying to ruin someone else's life with false allegations of this kind. It's not like we're inferring motive or action here. Greenberg was trying to get his sentence reduced. He would have been able to help the Feds nail Gaetz if the allegations were true.

 

I think Greenberg was just trying to get his sentence reduced. I'm not sure how much it was based on what he told them about Gaetz, but obviously, the information he gave didn't bear fruitage and Greenberg was clearly willing to give him up.

 

Do you read what you post? They decided not persuade because of witness credibility? No kidsing. I said if they had credible evidence they should release it and prosecute gates. If it’s just a hit piece with supposition( which what you like to run with) then no. And shilling? Let’s play this game one more time. Find me shilling for Gaetz on this board (or anywhere). Please go find those posts… but don’t post until you come back with the receipts
To be fair I challenged you to the same thing regarding me voting for Trump and you ghosted out..
So you like to make accusations.. back them up.
Come on.. or are you just hot air?

 

And it is not like the House would wait until the probe was completed to raise concerns. If in fact they believed Gaetz committed these crimes, he would have been asked to resign months ago. I do not think they would wait until the full review was complete to sound the alarm bells. Is there even a standard for asking a House member to resign in the midst of an ethics probe?

 

You sound angry.

But how could you or I (or anyone) know what is in the Republican House Ethics Committee report on their investigation if......Speaker Johnson refuses to release the report and findings?

So, uh....let's just say that it's not a "hit piece", as you laughably reference. It should be released, no? After all, the Republican House Ethics Committee isn't in the business of just creating "hit pieces" when they investigate, correct?


Weird the hoops people like you, and Republicans, and Trump supporters, are jumping through to try and justify the Republican leadership ensuring that the public not learn about the person who may lead the US Justice Department. Shilling, many would call it.

 

Gaetz is awful for lots of reasons, but I am trying to be objective here and don’t like how accusations of pedophilia and grooming are thrown around so loosely in our politics. Federal law is different, of course, but worth noting that 17 year olds are deemed old enough to consent to sex under the laws of most states. I don’t think many people really think that’s pedophilia.

 

Credible witness to what? Remember, a federal charge involves a federal crime. If he transported her across state lines to have sex with her, that would be a federal crime. If he just had sex with a 17 year old from the state of Florida in the state of Florida, then he wouldn't be guilty of a federal crime. Possibly a state crime depending on Florida statutory rape laws, but the feds would have nothing to do with it. The issue for the feds is that they have to prove more than what his colleagues, friends, and even family members claim, which is that he had sex with a minor.

 

You're right. And I try to use the word "alleged", since I don't know all the facts.

That's why the Republican party needs to release its own report from their own Ethics Committee. It appears rather suspicious that they apparently will not.

 

Correct me if I am wrong, but this only applies if the adult in the situation is under 21 years old, right? I think (in most states at least) if the perp is 21 or older, a 17 year old cannot legally consent.

 

Y'all are making me feel so dirty. Mrs 51 was 16 and I was 21 when we got married.

 

Not angry at all… I actually enjoy it when you engage. It’s fun and easy and makes me smile.
And once again you have a reading comprehension issue as I have already said it should be released… actually twice… on this thread. I’m not jumping through any hoops and the only one calling me a shill is you… and again with no evidence or proof.
You throw out a lot of accusations, yet you don’t back them up. You got your panties in a bunch when I referred to you as maam and yet offered no explanation as to why… didnt even offer a gender or a pronoun we should use. You have called me a trump a supporter but can’t find a post where I have supported Trump nor said I voted for him. You have called me a Gaetz shill.. and again can’t find anywhere that I have shilled for him.
It’s almost like you have become that which you hate.. a loud mouthed liar that repeats himself over and over and over hoping eventually someone will believe him.
Are you Trump? You are aren’t you. Your Trump or a Trumpy and you enjoy trolling the other side with this persona.

 

Many states have Romeo and Juliet laws which set forth exceptions when one party is under the legal age of consent but when the ages of the parties are less than _ years apart.

I looked at Alabama, for example. The age of consent is 16. As far as I can tell, unless it’s a situation where there is a teacher/student relationship, a 16 year old can legally consent to having sex with an adult of any age. (It looks to me like if a 16 year old and a 15 year old have sex, that is legal because the 16 year old is only a year older).

Federal law is different, and the age of consent there is 18. So even though it might be completely legal under Alabama law for a 40 year old to have sex with a 16 year old, the 40 year old would be breaking Federal law if they take pictures or videos of the very same sexual act which was otherwise lawful.

Age of consent in the United States - Wikipedia

 

It's hard to decipher what you type. But it's probably better that way.

I think we agree though; the Republican party should stop covering for clear and/or alleged criminals.

I'm sure you'll be super upset if this report on Gaetz is buried, at the behest of Trump.

 

Wow

 

I didn't realize that. Gaetz is a hero fighting against the deep state, solely to help the common man. He's just like Trump, when you think about it.

 

Florida would have been 18 in the Gaetz hypothetical scenario. It looks like a vast majority of the states are. While there may be some states that allow 16, I have a hard time believing Gaetz would openly brag on the House floor about something that would clearly constitute a crime in DC or Florida, with or without the pictures/videos. Lawyers typically play things close to the vest as it is, with things that aren't even criminal. Now I could see him bragging about college age women 18+, but then it becomes a whole different ballgame. Still, in theory, Gaetz could have violated the law by photographing or videoing the event. That is a different form of consent. If the female(s) involved consented to his recording, then I believe he's in much better legal shape than if they didn't.

But again, this is all hypothetical. I have not seen any confirmation that what Gaetz was showing on the House floor involved nudity or sexual activity. That in of itself would be an obvious no, so I am skeptical of the claims. That seems rather careless for anyone with a law degree, especially.