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Former Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz was nominated by Donald Trump to be the new attorney general. In his November 13, 2024 announcement via Truth Social, the president-elect called Gaetz a “deeply gifted and tenacious attorney” who was “educated at William & Mary College of Law.” Trump went on to say that his choice of AG would “end militarized government, protect our borders, dismantle criminal organizations, and restore America’s seriously shaken faith and confidence in the Justice Department.”

Previously, Gaetz was accused of having sex with a 17-year-old girl and paying for her travel, The New York Times first reported in March 2021. The age of sexual consent in Florida is 18. At the time, the Justice Department investigated whether Gaetz had violated sex trafficking laws.

Gaetz, however, vehemently denied all allegations in a statement. In what Fox News’ Tucker Carlson called it his “weirdest interview ever,” Gaetz claimed at the time that the allegations were part of an ongoing effort to extort him and his family. “Over the past several weeks, my family and I have been victims of an organized criminal extortion involving a former DOJ official demanding $25 million while threatening to smear my name…I demand that the DOJ immediately release the recordings, carried out under his orders, which implicate their former colleague in crimes against me based on false allegations,” he said.

“I have not had a relationship with a 17-year-old,” Gaetz said in his statement. Tucker Carlson tonight interview. “This is completely false. The allegation is this: I read it in the New York Timesis that I traveled with a 17 year old in a relationship. This is false, and the records will prove it. Offering flights and hotel rooms to people you date who are adults is not a crime… We were talking about a minor and that there were photos of me with child prostitutes. This is obviously false. There will be no such images, because nothing like this has happened. »

Matt Gaetz swears to Tucker Carlson that he didn’t “travel” with a 17-year-old, but his denial seems pretty specific and carefully worded pic.twitter.com/emGePJeVfV

-Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 31, 2021

He claimed that his father, former president of the Florida State Senate Donald Gaetz“even wore a microphone under the direction of the FBI to arrest these criminals.” Former DOJ official Gaetz named was lawyer David McGeewho denied any involvement in the investigation or any attempt to extort the family towards The Washington Post. McGee confirmed that Donald Gaetz contacted him to discuss a matter he refused to disclose.

Gaetz allegedly gained a reputation when he came to Congress in 2017 for bragging about his sexual exploits, multiple sources said. CNN. The sources claimed that Gatz showed other lawmakers (including in the House) photos and videos of naked women he had slept with, which he kept on his phone. The sources, including two people who allegedly saw the explicit material, told CNN that Gaetz also described having sex with the women.

Gaetz could have been charged under Mann Actwhich prohibits taking any person across state lines “with the intent that such individual engage in prostitution or any sexual activity for which any person may be charged with a criminal offense.” The investigation was opened in 2020 during President Trump’s administration. Gaetz said Axios“The allegations against me are as blatant as they are false. I believe there are people at the Department of Justice who are trying to criminalize my sexual behavior, you know when I was single.

However, the DOJ concluded its investigation and did not charge Gaetz with any crimes.

Here’s what else you need to know about Gaetz:

Gaetz was also investigated for allegedly paying women online for sex

The DOJ investigation focuses on Gaetz’s alleged involvement with “several women who were recruited online for sex and received cash payments.” The New York Times reported April 1. Investigators believe that Joel Greenberga former Florida tax collector indicted in 2020 on a federal sex trafficking charge, met the women in question on websites where women have dates in exchange for gifts and money, sources say who spoke to the newspaper. Investigators say Greenberg introduced the women to Gaetz, who allegedly had sex with them. Gaetz denied ever paying a woman for sex.

The New York Times claims to have reviewed Cash App and Apple Pay receipts that show money sent to one of the women from Gaetz and Greenberg, and from Greenberg to another woman. Gaetz and Greenberg allegedly told women to meet them at hotels and other locations in Florida throughout 2019 and 2020. One woman told the newspaper that Gaetz and Greenberg also sometimes paid her in cash.

Gaetz once claimed the Capitol attacks weren’t all Trump supporters

Gaetz falsely claimed they were Antifa members and not all the Trump supporters who posed siege of the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. He said: “Some of the people who broke into the Capitol today were not Trump supporters. They posed as Trump supporters and were actually members of the violent terrorist group Antifa,” he said. series of “boos” during a speech in the House early the next morning. Gaetz was reported by Twitter for “glorifying violence” following an outrageous June 1, 2020 tweet nationwide. George Floyd the police protest, writing: “Now that we clearly consider Antifa terrorists, can we hunt them down like we do in the Middle East?

Gaetz has represented Florida’s 1st Congressional District since 2016 and has been re-elected twice since. He is a member of the House Freedom Caucus and serves on the following committees: Committee on Armed Services, Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Ground Forces, Committee on the Budget, Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee courts, intellectual property. and Internet, Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Trade Law, and Antitrust. He has not been removed from any committee since his DOJ investigation was announced.

He voted “no” to a bill against human trafficking

Gaetz was the only representative to vote “no” on the Combating Human Trafficking in Commercial Vehicles Act in 2017. The bill allocates additional government resources to combat human trafficking to states -United. Gaetz said on Facebook Live that he opposed the bill because it represented “mission drift” by the federal government. “Unless there is a compelling and compelling reason why our existing agencies within the federal government cannot handle this problem, I am voting no because the voters of Northwest Florida have not told me not sent to Washington to create more federal government,” Gaetz said.

He is a strong supporter of Donald Trump

Gaetz has distanced himself from his congressional colleagues over his fervent support for Trump. Throughout Trump’s presidency, Gaetz was constantly featured on Fox News and OAN repeating Trump’s rhetoric. When Trump called Haiti a “Shithole country” in 2018, Gaetz supported him by tweeting: “The conditions in Haiti are deplorable, they are disgusting. I mean, everywhere you look in Haiti, it’s sheet metal and trash. Gaetz was so loyal to Trump that he even said he would resign his seat in the House to represent Trump in his second impeachment trial if he is asked to join his legal team.

Gaetz was part of the #FreeBritney movement

Britney Spears found a very unlikely ally in Gaetz. The congressman requested in March that the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee Jerry Nadler (D-NY) is holding a televised investigation into conservatorship due process and specifically mentions the “Toxic” singer in his letter. In his letter, Gaetz addressed many points of contention that appeared in the documentary. Framing Britney Spearsincluding how her father came to have control – and keep it – over Britney’s life via the guardianship.

“The facts and circumstances giving rise to this arrangement remain controversial but involve questionable motives and legal tactics on the part of his father and now conservative, Jamie Spears“, he wrote. Gaetz later tweeted on March 9: “I think @britneyspears would be an excellent witness in the House Judiciary Committee. She would probably have a lot to say about guardianships. #FreeBritney”