FBI Records Reveal Matt Gaetz Was in Chaos Mode as Scandal Broke

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Daily Beast

Roger Sollenberger - 4h ago

Fifteen minutes before Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) was due to go on Tucker Carlson’s Fox News show on March 30, 2021—hours after a bombshell report that he was under investigation for allegedly sex trafficking a minor—Gaetz was shouting, repeatedly, at FBI agents in his family home.
“Do you have a warrant to be here?” Gaetz yelled, according to an FBI report of the event obtained by The Daily Beast.

But as adversarial as Gaetz was in those moments, the agents weren’t after him. They were actually there to help him, and his father, who had been cooperating with the FBI for several days in a sting operation that Gaetz claimed on live TV minutes later would clear his name.

This scene and others are detailed in previously unreported documents that shine new light on the sting operation, which Gaetz helped orchestrate in the frenzied days before The New York Times published the explosive report that changed the Panhandle congressman’s public and political life.

The documents, in possession of federal prosecutors and obtained exclusively by The Daily Beast, confirm parts of the story of international intrigue and attempted fraud that Gaetz described to Carlson minutes after the agents left his home. But the records also contradict fundamental claims in Gaetz’s version of events, raising new questions about the congressman’s own role in the sting, as well as when and why he began to cooperate with the feds.

Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/fbi-records-reveal-matt-gaetz-was-in-chaos-mode-as-scandal-broke/ar-AAXmJIx?cvid=4823c552f6664d89b52977d86ba7d399

[greenjar_01]

1. And what's become of this scandal?

He's still a Congressperson, yeah?

We still waiting for the "wingman" to turn state's?

[Effete Snob]

2. The basic problem...

...is that someone needs to come up with evidence that Matt Gaetz did something illegal, as opposed to merely being around people who were doing illegal things.

The other problem is that if he was cooperating in the investigation of this ginned-up "blackmail" thing, then it can muddy the waters in relation to what evidence might be usable against him.

[oldsoftie]

10. Don't they already have proof of him paying the girl? And traveling with her?

Aren't both of those things, with a minor, felonies?

[Effete Snob]

14. Like I said, it comes down to specifics

In all of the Gaetz threads, there is a wealth of vague impressions about what "they" have.

Several things are relevant.

First, having sex with an underage person is not a federal crime. The FBI would not be investigating that per se. Also "underage" varies by jurisdiction. In Washington, DC, for example, it is not a crime of any kind for a an adult to engage in sexual conduct with a minor age 16 and up.

It is not illegal to pay someone. It is not illegal to have sex with someone. It is, again a state crime, to pay someone to have sex. However, you have to prove that is what the payment was for. If someone is paid to attend a party, and ends up having sex with someone at the party, then you are going to have a really difficult time proving that anyone paid anyone to have sex.

About the only relevant federal crime in all of that is the Mann Act, which criminalizes the transport of women across state lines for the purpose of prostitution.

Again, you run into the same sort of intent and purpose problem with that because, again, just because someone is being transported and/or paid, and ends up having sex with someone, does not mean they were transported across state lines for the purpose of prostitution.

Finally, it is indeed possible to structure one's activities carefully. If you, my friend, line up some persons who are willing to attend a party, and I end up having sex with any of them, I have not engaged in either the solicitation or payment for prostitution. Some of the activities alleged in the Gaetz stuff appears to be along those lines.

So, be specific. What is the sequence of acts for which Matt Gaetz should be charged with a federal crime, and where have these facts been laid out?

[oldsoftie]

18. In other words, arrrggghhhh!

[Fiendish Thingy]

5. Greenberg already has a plea deal, and his sentencing date has been delayed

At the request of the feds because they say he is providing more and more information.

[greenjar_01]

6. Ah, still waiting for some other reason, I suppose

Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow...

[crickets]

8. At this point, you'd think there would be enough evidence to arrest Gaetz.

Either they have it or they don't. I don't even see how the lame 'going after the big fish' argument would apply. If there is any 'there' there, and it seems like there is, it's disgusting that Gaetz is still in office and walking around free after more than a year has gone by since this became public.

[Fiendish Thingy]

11. Perhaps it's not just Gaetz that Greenberg is giving evidence on.

Again, it’s the feds who have requested the delay because Greenberg keeps giving them more valuable information.

[samsingh]

3. still no charges for the rich white male

[KS Toronado]

4. Who was this sting operation going after?

Jeffery Epstein or Agolf Twitler ? Sure hope this doesn't let Gaetz off the hook for his misdeeds.

[NewHendoLib]

7. So the solution? Let him off the hook

[Marcuse]

9. Blackmailed by weaponized truth?

[nevergiveup]

12. All of these really bad and corrupt political actors

hire the most expensive and knowledgeable attorneys who know how to work and manipulate the system. Like most of these actors Matt Gaetz will likely skate.

[sop]

13. An FBI investigation doesn't mean what it once did.

Neither do congressional subpoenas, grand juries, contempt of court citations, DOJ referrals or even impeachment proceedings. It's all a farce.

[Wuddles440]

17. Such investigations and proceedings...

are only a concern if you're not a member of the GQP cult.

[aggiesal]

15. I want him in chaos mode when he's frog marched in chains. n/t

[sarcasmo]

16. Chaos and five head is still in Congress. A different set of rules for Republicans.

[Kid Berwyn]

19. Gosh. Why would the FBI want to help Gaetz?

Asking for a friend.

[867-5309.]

20. Wasn't there a confession letter?

Yet not a peep about the case against Matty.