NYT: Matt Gaetz Is Said to Be Investigated Over Possible Sexual Relationship With a Girl, 17. Wrap it up. Gaetz likely to avoid charges. Gaetz former ally sentenced to 11 years.

[The Evil Genius]

[China]

Matt Gaetz Denies Having Affair With Male Staffer After Dem Claims She ‘Observed Their Intimacy’

 

U.S. Representative Matt Gaetz has denied an allegation that he is having an affair with a member of his staff, calling it “totally false and libelous.”

 

The allegation, made by Rebekah Jones, the Democrat candidate House Republican Gaetz defeated in November 2022 to secure re-election, has gone viral on social media, receiving more than 6.9 million views on Twitter alone.

 

“Matt Gaetz is believed to be having an affair with his press secretary, Joel Valdez, according to three independent sources,” Jones tweeted on Tuesday.

 

“Gaetz’ office and his wife have not responded to requests for comment. This is not Gaetz’ first affair, nor is it his first w/a [with a] man,” she added.

 

In a second tweet, she wrote: “I observed their, er, intimacy in a moment they thought was private after our debate but didn’t want to speculate without proof.”

 

The tweets have been widely shared, receiving more than 42,000 likes and over 8,000 retweets to reach millions of social media users.

 

Asked by another Twitter user to provide “more concrete info,” Jones said she “had two camera crews filming me” at the time, so she didn’t need to do anything.

 

In a statement sent to Newsweek, Gaetz’s office fervently denied the allegations, commenting: “Thrice fired, indicted, politically defeated, mentally unstable people shouldn’t be considered sources by serious media. Mrs. Jones’ statements referenced no sourcing or evidence in her defamatory posts.”

 

Click on the link for the full article

 

[Simmsy]

22 hours ago, China said:

Matt Gaetz Denies Having Affair With Male Staffer After Dem Claims She ‘Observed Their Intimacy’

 

U.S. Representative Matt Gaetz has denied an allegation that he is having an affair with a member of his staff, calling it “totally false and libelous.”

 

The allegation, made by Rebekah Jones, the Democrat candidate House Republican Gaetz defeated in November 2022 to secure re-election, has gone viral on social media, receiving more than 6.9 million views on Twitter alone.

 

“Matt Gaetz is believed to be having an affair with his press secretary, Joel Valdez, according to three independent sources,” Jones tweeted on Tuesday.

 

“Gaetz’ office and his wife have not responded to requests for comment. This is not Gaetz’ first affair, nor is it his first w/a [with a] man,” she added.

 

In a second tweet, she wrote: “I observed their, er, intimacy in a moment they thought was private after our debate but didn’t want to speculate without proof.”

 

The tweets have been widely shared, receiving more than 42,000 likes and over 8,000 retweets to reach millions of social media users.

 

Asked by another Twitter user to provide “more concrete info,” Jones said she “had two camera crews filming me” at the time, so she didn’t need to do anything.

 

In a statement sent to Newsweek, Gaetz’s office fervently denied the allegations, commenting: “Thrice fired, indicted, politically defeated, mentally unstable people shouldn’t be considered sources by serious media. Mrs. Jones’ statements referenced no sourcing or evidence in her defamatory posts.”

 

Click on the link for the full article

 

 

Normally, I'm not for outing people, but I'm going to allow this one. Lets see if he sues, I would to get this on the record and under oath.

[CobraCommander]

I dunno about all this. I thought he liked underage girls. Now it's men? I don't buy it. Just like I never bought the notion that he would go to jail for what he did. 

[PokerPacker]

Every Republican accusation is an admission.  Paul Pelosi was attacked by a secret gay lover?  Nope.  Matt Gaetz has a secret gay lover.

[Cooked Crack]

On 1/24/2023 at 10:43 PM, Cooked Crack said:

At this point nothing happening to Gaetz.

 

[Bang]

Gosh.

 

what a shock.

I love how they say "just in".
I looked back thru the thread and the first time i posted in it was Apr 2, 2021. and in it i said "nothing will happen no matter how guilty he is".

Now, i don't say this to prove I am any sort of smart, but seriously, show of hands:
Do you have ANY faith left in this nation of "laws"?
Do you really need to see it play out to the end where they say "nothing will happen" to absolutely KNOW that nothing will happen?

Nothing will happen to ANY OF THEM.

ANY OF THEM.

EVER.

 

This country is laying down and dying quietly and meekly, powerless to uphold it's own law in the face of some of the most idiotic criminal 'geniuses' any of us have ever seen.

 

This is my 20th yr of posting on ES. And in this time, with most of you, I've watched us just slide right into the dark. I'm just disgusted.

 

~Bang

Edited February 15 by Bang

[The Evil Genius]

The right isn't sliding into the dark. It's been there since Nixon. 

[Bang]

57 minutes ago, The Evil Genius said:

The right isn't sliding into the dark. It's been there since Nixon. 

This is a worse breed. The fringes and radicals have always been, but now they hold positions of power. Now they have networks devoted to spreading their messages, all of it reeking with conspiracy theories and outright dangerous lies that are insane and easily disproven.  They are becoming the mainstream. (I don't think the COVID anti-science disinformation efforts would have happened the way the GOP of today embraced and furthered them, for example.) More than the old school "benefit the rich" GOP..  no they are straight up against our institutions, and attempting to damage or dismantle what makes this country a country.

 

~Bang

Edited February 15 by Bang

[China]

The DOJ comes off looking cowardly and political.  They seem afraid to risk spoiling their 99% conviction rate and fear that if they lost they would then be called out as having made a political prosecution.  The reality is that by not prosecuting they come across as politicizing the DOJ because they're decisions are made based on politics, rather than the law.  Again, the rich and powerful/connected are held to a different standard than regular folks.

 

I'm guessing Gaetz celebrates tonight by banging an underage hooker.

[Destino]

52 minutes ago, China said:

The DOJ comes off looking cowardly and political.  They seem afraid to risk spoiling their 99% conviction rate and fear that if they lost they would then be called out as having made a political prosecution. 

this is the classism built into our justice system. We talk so much about racism that the biggest baked in bias our justice system has goes without note most of the time.  Prosecutors are not likely to press charges if they feel they might lose.  
 

I spoke to a lawyer friend of mine at a birthday party and asked him what’s the cost of a basic private legal defense for a serious charge.  He said about 150k.  That doesn’t include your own panel of experts and investigators, just the lawyer spending the time to put up a good fight.  How many of you reading this have that money laying around right now?  How many of you could afford the additional expenses your own experts to challenge every scrap of the governments case?  
 

Our justice system is inherently bias in favor of those that can afford a quality legal team.  This is by design not because of some hidden hatred lurking in the hearts of any party involved.  The system design unavoidably favors those with money.  It’s not just that those with money have a much higher chance of winning in court, it’s that the bar for filing charges is different.  Those with a quality legal team require an incredibly strong case for prosecutors to even dream about moving forwards, while everyone else faces an entirely different standard.

[tshile]

I’m not exactly following it so I’m only working off the cnn article, but, doj says there’s issues with witnesses and I’m guessing overall they’re not satisfied with the evidence they have. 
 

Is there something we have as proof that this is Gaetz getting away with something because of who he is? Or does it just fit the desired narrative well?

 

 

[PleaseBlitz]

If the DoJ doesn't have the goods to get a conviction, they should fold.

 

And only Matt Gaetz would view "not being charged with sex trafficking" as a victory. 

[Bang]

20 minutes ago, tshile said:

 

Is there something we have as proof that this is Gaetz getting away with something because of who he is? Or does it just fit the desired narrative well?

 

 

Possibly.
I am not ashamed to say, my bias is large.

 

~Bang

[The Evil Genius]

Language..

 

Spoiler

 

 

[Riggo-toni]

 

 

[Larry]

2 hours ago, tshile said:

 

Is there something we have as proof that this is Gaetz getting away with something because of who he is? Or does it just fit the desired narrative well?

Well, in terms of proof of getting away, I seem to recall this starting with a woman who swore, under oath, that Gaetz had sex with her when she was 17. 
 

And Gaetz, after word got out, suddenly marrying her, so she could refuse to testify further. 
 

Now, whether that's proof of him getting away because of who he is?

 

Guess that's up to a duly empowered jury of the court of public opinion. 

[Califan007 The Constipated]

3 hours ago, tshile said:

I’m not exactly following it so I’m only working off the cnn article, but, doj says there’s issues with witnesses and I’m guessing overall they’re not satisfied with the evidence they have. 
 

Is there something we have as proof that this is Gaetz getting away with something because of who he is? Or does it just fit the desired narrative well?

 

 

 

It was said several weeks (months?) ago that some respected attorneys were telling decision-makers in the DoJ not to press forward with charging Gaetz due to the low "quality" of their witnesses...I was assuming that basically meant something like:

 

1. How believable are they

2. How willing would your average juror be in believing them over Gaetz (because all of them would have to be to get a conviction)

3. How much baggage do the witnesses bring with them on the witness stand that a good defense could rip to shreds

4. How much evidence is there that doesn't rely upon the testimony of these witnesses

5. Is there a likelihood that you can build a stronger case and still charge him down the road

 

I remember hoping points 1 and 4 were strong enough to overcome any hesitations. I guess not.

 

[China]

 

[China]

 

[PokerPacker]

5 hours ago, Larry said:

Well, in terms of proof of getting away, I seem to recall this starting with a woman who swore, under oath, that Gaetz had sex with her when she was 17. 
 

And Gaetz, after word got out, suddenly marrying her, so she could refuse to testify further. 
 

Now, whether that's proof of him getting away because of who he is?

 

Guess that's up to a duly empowered jury of the court of public opinion. 

He did get married shortly after this all came up, but not to his sex-trafficking victim.  His wife is the sister of the creator of the Oculus Rift.  Now whether she had info that could have been used against him, or whether it was just an optics "See, he's married; he's a good person." wedding, I am uncertain.

[The Evil Genius]

Deep breath.

 

 

[JCB]

Jesus, not surprised really, but what an absolute indictment of our justice system.

[China]

Staying on brand:

 

Matt Gaetz’s New Staffer Identifies as a ‘Raging Misogynist’

 

“Consent is probably modern society’s most pernicious fetish.”

 

It would seem bad enough if that internet comment from the newly hired congressional counsel for Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) was about women. But this statement criticizing the notion of consent—which Gaetz’s counsel, Andrew Kloster, posted in the comments section of a Volokh Conspiracy post sometime around 2013—came in reply to a blog titled, “Government Out of Bedrooms, but into Barnyards,” which endorsed a libertarian framework for rejecting consent as a legitimate basis for bans on bestiality.

 

Kloster—a self-described “raging misogynist” who was hired in Gaetz’s D.C. office last month—is a prolific tweeter. He seems to find a particular thrill in controversy, which he often folds into his brand of “new right” contrarian conservatism.

 

But Kloster’s online rhetoric frequently veers from controversial into off-putting, offensive, and outright bizarre. And he hasn’t let his employment in Congress get in the way.

 

Last month, Kloster tweeted, “You know what I need? I need a woman who looks like she got punched.”

 

That post came in reply to a woman’s tweet, which read, “Any good guy will date you just as long as you’re sweet and normal and happy and the way you look and dress doesn’t embarrass him. You don’t need lip injections.”

 

Kloster currently faces a charge for assault that causes bodily injury against a family member, according to court records in Collin County, Texas. The class A misdemeanor carries a maximum sentence of a year in jail and a $4,000 fine, as long as the defendant has no previous domestic violence charges.

 

Kloster’s hiring in Congress coincides with reports last month revealing that Gaetz had honored a man accused of murder who has yet to face trial, inviting him to lead the House Judiciary’s inaugural Pledge of Allegiance.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[Larry]

Just pointing out:  

 

The notion that you can't have sex with livestock because the livestock can't give consent, is also the basis for laws prohibiting sex with children.