Government

PeenerGaetz Scandal Still Going Strong

The congressman's stamina is unfailing.

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What kind of Puritan thinks it’s a crime to pay for sex, right?

“I know Joel and Matt paid some of their bills, rent, tuition, things like that,” the friend said. “This is a thing that happens when you’re successful and you have these relationships: ‘Are we not supposed to help these women who mean something to us and that we care about?’ Is that prostitution? Maybe if you’re a Puritan.”

This is an actual quote a “friend” of Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz and former Seminole County tax collector Joel Greenberg gave to Politico. No doubt the congressman and his former wingman appreciate the “help.”

It’s not clear if the congressman will face legal repercussions for his alleged habit of showering honoraria on the extremely young women he “partied with,” but every news cycle is a bloodbath for the Panhandle politician.

Yesterday the New York Times reported that Greenberg is singing his heart out, trying to get out from under a 33-count indictment for identity theft, wire fraud, stalking, bribery of a public official, theft of government property, and sex trafficking a minor.

Joel Greenberg, a onetime county tax collector, disclosed to investigators that he and Mr. Gaetz had encounters with women who were given cash or gifts in exchange for sex, the people said. The Justice Department is investigating the involvement of the men with multiple women who were recruited online for sex and received cash payments and whether the men had sex with a 17-year-old in violation of sex trafficking statutes, people familiar with the inquiry have said.

The champagne supernova of central Florida corruption may face one or two wee credibility problems, though. Plus there’s the pesky issue that he claims to have been paying the legal bills of the woman at the center of the child trafficking charges at some point.

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“I’m having to pay for vintage 99 to retain [a] lawyer,” he wrote in a WhatsApp message revealed by Politico — “Vintage 99” being the SeekingArrangements handle used by the woman in question, who was born in 1999 and is alleged to have been 17 at the time of some of her encounters with Greenberg and possibly Gaetz himself.

Then last night Politico revealed that federal investigators got a search warrant and seized Gaetz’s iPhone in late December; and for good measure, they took his ex-girlfriend’s cellphone, too. Neither of which is likely to have happened without a sign-off from Main Justice by AG Bill Barr or his replacement Jeffrey Rosen.

OG Florida reporter Marc Caputo has been all over this story for Politico,  naming multiple GOP insiders on Gaetz’s Bahamas trip in September 2018 accompanied by multiple very young women, including “Vintage 99,” whose child-like appearance caused federal authorities to briefly stop the passengers upon their return to Fort Lauderdale for further interrogation.

And this morning CNN got details on the “sex parties” attended by Gaetz and other high-ranking Florida politicians where the women procured for the evening were instructed to put away their phones upon entry, the better to allow the attendees to relax without fear of their indiscretions being documented.

As the Daily Beast has reported, Gaetz Venmo’d $900 to Greenberg late one night in May of 2018 with the memo “Hit up [Vintage 99].” The following day he disbursed $900 among three women, including “Vintage 99” for “Tuition,” “School,” and “School.”

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And here’s CNN from this morning:

One of the women said she received money from Greenberg after some of the parties. She said that some of the payments were for providing sex but would not say who she slept with. She did say she never received money directly from Gaetz.

UH HUH.

The two women who attended the events and are speaking to CNN report that there appeared to be no underage women at the parties Gaetz and his buddies threw themselves, so perhaps the congressman can take some comfort in that. On the other hand, they confirm reports that he used recreational drugs during the festivities so, it’s kind of a mixed blessing.

Not really a great look for a United States congressman, TBH.

‘Felt like a setup’: WhatsApp chat shows Gaetz ally scrambling to contain fallout [Politico]
Indicted Gaetz Associate Is Said to Be Cooperating With Justice Dept. [NYT]
Women detail drug use, sex and payments after late-night parties with Gaetz and others [CNN]
New details shed light on Gaetz’s Bahamas trip [Politico]

Liz Dye lives in Baltimore where she writes about law and politics.

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