Forgot password
Enter the email address you used when you joined and we'll send you instructions to reset your password.
If you used Apple or Google to create your account, this process will create a password for your existing account.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Reset password instructions sent. If you have an account with us, you will receive an email within a few minutes.
Something went wrong. Try again or contact support if the problem persists.
Matt Gaetz
Photo by Kent Nishimura/Getty Images

Sorry, Marjorie: Matt Gaetz being a potential predator and sex trafficker means nothing has ‘changed’

They can bluff all they want, but those investigations don't lie.

The P in GOP increasingly seems to stand for “perpetrator” as more and more members of the good ol’ party find themselves in legal trouble.

Recommended Videos

Take Florida Representative Matt Gaetz, who, several years after first being accused of sex trafficking a minor, is seeing investigations into his actions ramping back up. This is even as fellow gasbag and Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene broadly proclaims that “it’s all changed” and “the establishment got the message.” Assuming the message in question was that a startling number of Republican congresspeople are criminals under the surface, then sure. Way to go Marj, you finally got one right.

But assuming (more accurately) that Greene was attempting to claim that the “establishment” is going to quietly bow out of its many investigations into our corrupt political leaders, our girl is just as wrong as usual. No, the GOP isn’t suddenly freed from those pesky investigations into a range of troubling accusations. In fact, many of those legal inquiries are ongoing.

Gaetz’s investigation certainly is. The 41-year-old has been under a microscope since 2020, when the Justice Department first caught wind of potentially illegal activity. In the years since, the investigation into his alleged sex trafficking of a minor has been quietly developing in the background despite the Congressman’s continued avoidance of any specific charges.

That may change now that the House Ethics Committee is seeking new witnesses in its investigation. The committee reportedly reached out to both the Justice Department and the woman who Gaetz allegedly had sexual relations with when she was only 17. Just in case anyone needs a refresher, that makes the woman in question a minor based on Florida law, and — if the allegations are found to be true — that would make Gaetz a pedophile. You know, the thing Republicans are constantly accusing Democrats of being.

It’s worth noting that the Justice Department’s investigation into Gaetz has been ongoing for years and the representative has yet to face any charges. That likely means any information passed from the Justice Department to the House Ethics Committee isn’t enough to present formal charges, but it could be enough to stop Gaetz’s political future in its tracks.


We Got This Covered is supported by our audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission. Learn more about our Affiliate Policy
Author
Image of Nahila Bonfiglio
Nahila Bonfiglio
Nahila carefully obsesses over all things geekdom and gaming, bringing her embarrassingly expansive expertise to the team at We Got This Covered. She is a Staff Writer and occasional Editor with a focus on comics, video games, and most importantly 'Lord of the Rings,' putting her Bachelors from the University of Texas at Austin to good use. Her work has been featured alongside the greats at NPR, the Daily Dot, and Nautilus Magazine.