Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene | Former Rep Matt Gaetz |
To readers it may seem I'm rerunning two of the past winners of my mock annual award of Republicans behaving badly for 2021.In fact. I was sorely tempted to add Lauren Boebert last year over the theater incident where she and her companion were thrown out for groping in a public place. I also came close to nominating Gaetz for last year's motion to strip McCarthy of the Speaker position basically freezing work in the House for nearly 3 weeks until Johnson's election.. There are multiple time mock award recipients such as Andrew Cuomo of my companion "Jackass of the Year'. And, of course, Trump has won multiple times (e.g., 2020, 2022), although I could have listed him for 9 consecutive years.
There were alternate candidates in consideration including Anthony D'Esposito (NY-4), recently defeated for reelection.. He also has had ethics charges against him, involving Clinton-like sexual harassment (whether or not voluntary), corruption and nepotism.
MTG in this case is being chosen for her role , taking advantage of a razor-thin majority (4 seats) in the House and liberalized rules for a motion to vacate the office, to motion for removing Johnson out as Speaker. Greene was irate over Johnson allowing a vote on Ukraine aid, which she opposed in this case..She recruited more than enough votes (if it came to the motion--about 19. I think the Dems, hardly pro-Johnson. didn't want another weeks-long impasse of Republicans trying to steer a candidate through a fragmented caucus, joined the majority in tabling the motion. Oddly enough, Greene had been a McCarthy backer last year. The fact that MTG knew she was risking an indefinite freeze in all House activity over a narrow GOP majority is unforgivable.
My rationale for naming Trumpkin ally Matt Gaetz isn't related to the Speaker mess. Gaetz. Joel Greenberg, then a friend of Gaetz, was convicted by the feds of child sex trafficking and other offenses. Gaetz became the related focus of 2 cases, the Justice Department and the Houe Ethics Committee. A principal charge involved Gaetz allegedly having (compensated) sex with a 17-y3ar-old female minor (they supposedly crossed state lines making it a federal crime).
In addition to the Justice Department probe, the House Ethics Committee has investigated similar allegations and subpoenaed testimony from the woman, who was a teen at the time, at the center of the investigation. The committee reportedly interviewed at least six different women who described attending parties where Gaetz was also present. At least one was under the age of 18 at the time and told House investigators that the then-congressman had sex with her, according to ABC News.
Allegations surrounding Gaetz and sexual encounters with minors also came to light in a civil case brought by Florida lobbyist Chris Dorwoth, who had previously sued Greenberg and others in an effort to distance himself from the controversies involving Gaetz. Dorworth has since dropped the lawsuit, but in court filings made public earlier this year, three eyewitnesses testified that Gaetz had sex with a 17-year-old woman minor at a July 2017 party hosted at Dorworth’s house that included “alcohol; cocaine; middle-aged men; and young attractive females,” one witness stated.
It should be noted noted the Justice Department dropped charges. Matt. of course, regards it as an exoneration, but according to other lawyers involved in the investigation:
[T]he investigation into Gaetz had stalled, according to attorneys who have represented witnesses and people who have been subpoenaed or have spoken to investigators. The attorneys briefed about aspects of the case said the probe stalled over concerns about the credibility of two key witnesses or a lack of direct evidence implicating Gaetz
The Justice Department likely felt there was insufficient evidence to win conviction, maybe a reasonable doubt that Gaetz knew the age of the minor, there may be certain inconsistencies in witness testimonies, maybe Gaetz himself didn't hire the girl, etc. This doesn't mean Gaetz wasn't at the booze/cocaine/sex party or didn't have sex with a minor; they still had the burden of proof to convict beyond a reasonable doubt in a jury of Gaetz' peers.
The fact is Trump initially chose Gaetz to be his choice to be Attorney General, no doubt as a pit bull loyalist he wanted carry out his retribution in response to Russiagate, the criminal trials against him internal personnel running their own agenda, etc. Gaetz, of course, ardently defended Trump in the first/Ukraine impeachment Gaetz was an appallingly bad choice. First, both he and Trump were personally vested in their encounters with the Justice Department. it is difficult to believe they would act with regard to the rule of law, independent of their experiences but Gaetz was manifestly unqualified. He has never been as much as a local prosecutor, never mind lead prosecutor on the state or federal level. Gaetz had a moral obligation to turn down the nomiation for multiple grounds
Gaetz withdrew, basically at least 4 GOP Senators were unlikely to confirm (Alaska, Maine, Kentucky, Utah) and he could only lose 3. He had resigned his House seat in the hopes of stopping a House ethics report. the Senate had asked for it but got pushback. oddly, as i write this, they've flipped and decided to release it; i've provided more detail in a recent essay.)
