{"id":1050556,"date":"2024-12-23T16:18:32","date_gmt":"2024-12-23T21:18:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/?p=1050556"},"modified":"2024-12-23T16:18:32","modified_gmt":"2024-12-23T21:18:32","slug":"new-donald-trumps-friend-and-former-ag-pick-matt-gaetz-likely-violated-statutory-rape-and-prostitution-laws-per-bipartisan-investigation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/new-donald-trumps-friend-and-former-ag-pick-matt-gaetz-likely-violated-statutory-rape-and-prostitution-laws-per-bipartisan-investigation\/","title":{"rendered":"NEW: Donald Trump\u2019s \u201cFriend\u201d and Former AG Pick Matt Gaetz Likely Violated Statutory Rape and Prostitution Laws, per Bipartisan Investigation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" height=\"341\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/image.png?w=1024\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1038290\" srcset=\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/image.png 1500w, https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/image.png?resize=300,100 300w, https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/image.png?resize=768,256 768w, https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/image.png?resize=1024,341 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Donald Trump\u2019s judge of character is on full display today as his former AG pick Matt Gaetz comes under fire in bipartisan House Ethics report<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Reminder: In November, Trump called Gaetz a \u201cChampion for &#8230; the Rule of Law\u201d&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/mattgaetz\/status\/1823763607701659808\"><strong><em>Who<\/em><\/strong><\/a><strong><em> <\/em><\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/matt-gaetz-sex-game-florida-staffers-sororities-snitch-harry-potter-2021-4\"><strong><em>could<\/em><\/strong><\/a><strong><em> <\/em><\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2021\/04\/01\/politics\/matt-gaetz-photos-women\/index.html\"><strong><em>have<\/em><\/strong><\/a><strong><em> <\/em><\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/mattgaetz\/status\/1854681989426594042\"><strong><em>seen this<\/em><\/strong><\/a><strong><em> <\/em><\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/mattgaetz\/status\/1326719091034497026\"><strong><em>coming<\/em><\/strong><\/a><strong><em>??<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>SHOT: Matt Gaetz has been under investigation since 2021, including for alleged illegal drug use and sexual misconduct. That didn\u2019t stop Donald Trump from heaping praise on Gaetz and nominating him to be the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wuwf.org\/local-news\/2024-11-13\/trump-to-nominate-rep-matt-gaetz-to-be-attorney-general\">Trump<\/a>: \u201cWe must have Honesty, Integrity, and Transparency at DOJ. Under Matt\u2019s leadership, all Americans will be proud of the Department of Justice once again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/@realDonaldTrump\/posts\/113477516524300359\">Trump<\/a>: \u201cMatt is a deeply gifted and tenacious attorney &#8230; He is a Champion for the Constitution and the Rule of Law\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2024\/11\/18\/trump-gaetz-confirmation-senate\">Axios<\/a>: \u201c[Trump] believes Matt Gaetz is the one person who will have the fearlessness and ferociousness, really, to do what needs doing at the Department of Justice\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=pL0NmD-FKNc\">Trump yesterday<\/a>: Matt Gaetz is a \u201cfriend\u201d with a \u201cbig career set up\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>CHASER: Trump\u2019s championing of Gaetz has never looked worse after today\u2019s House Ethics report determined\u2026&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2024\/12\/23\/politics\/matt-gaetz-house-ethics-report\">House Ethics Committee<\/a>: \u201cthere is <strong>substantial evidence <\/strong>that Representative Gaetz violated House Rules and other standards of conduct prohibiting<strong> prostitution, statutory rape, illicit drug use, impermissible gifts, special favors or privileges, and obstruction of Congress\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2024\/12\/23\/politics\/matt-gaetz-house-ethics-report\/index.html\">CNN<\/a>: \u201cHouse Ethics report finds evidence Matt Gaetz paid thousands for sex and drugs including paying a 17-year-old for sex in 2017\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/news\/politics\/elections\/2024\/12\/23\/matt-gaetz-ethics\/77077306007\/\">USA Today<\/a>: \u201cMatt Gaetz ethics report finds &#8216;substantial evidence&#8217; of statutory rape, prostitution\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/live\/2024\/12\/23\/us\/matt-gaetz-report-trump-news\">New York Times<\/a>: \u201cEthics Report Accuses Gaetz of Paying for Sex, Including With 17-Year-Old\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong>Trump now:<\/strong><strong> <\/strong><strong><em>*Crickets*<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>###<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Donald Trump\u2019s judge of character is on full display today as his former AG pick Matt Gaetz comes under fire in bipartisan House Ethics report Reminder: In November, Trump called Gaetz a \u201cChampion for &#8230; the Rule of Law\u201d&nbsp; Who could have seen this coming?? SHOT: Matt Gaetz has been under investigation since 2021, including [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":293,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1050556","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>NEW: Donald Trump\u2019s \u201cFriend\u201d and Former AG Pick Matt Gaetz Likely Violated Statutory Rape and Prostitution Laws, per Bipartisan Investigation - Democrats<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/new-donald-trumps-friend-and-former-ag-pick-matt-gaetz-likely-violated-statutory-rape-and-prostitution-laws-per-bipartisan-investigation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Democrats\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-12-23T21:18:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/image.png?w=1024\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Shelby Reese\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Shelby Reese\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/new-donald-trumps-friend-and-former-ag-pick-matt-gaetz-likely-violated-statutory-rape-and-prostitution-laws-per-bipartisan-investigation\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/new-donald-trumps-friend-and-former-ag-pick-matt-gaetz-likely-violated-statutory-rape-and-prostitution-laws-per-bipartisan-investigation\/\",\"name\":\"NEW: Donald Trump\u2019s \u201cFriend\u201d and Former AG Pick Matt Gaetz Likely Violated Statutory Rape and Prostitution Laws, per Bipartisan Investigation - 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