Ethics Committee Still Looking At Gaetz. He’s Pushing Back

Back in June when the House Ethics Committee said it was no longer looking into allegations of Bratty Matty Gaetz flashing around images of himself being a “studmuffin’ on the House Floor. There were some other things they said were no longer much concern and if you’re like me you thought ‘Dammit! They are letting him off the hook after all!’ Well, it turns out maybe not so much. The Ethics Committee now seems to have simply narrowed its focus and enough so Gaetz has gone public saying he’s done ‘voluntarily cooperating’ with them. Take a minute to laugh over the notion getting anything out of Gaetz was like trying to give a rabid cat a bath.

Ok now?  Gaetz was mad enough at former Speaker McCarthy for not killing that investigation that he engineered McCarthy’s ouster. The Ethics Committee was reported to have been in the final stages of drafting a report that would have left the GOP with no choice but to expel Gaetz. Given how thin their already virtually unworkable majority was that was a bitter pill. However, Gaetz likely had inside knowledge that Santos would be an even splashier scandal and HE would get kicked out. That and getting McCarthy tossed out was he figured the end of his troubles. Except as this article from Talking Points Memo tells us it wasn’t.

I think it’s safe to say the investigation suffered a setback. The loss of Santos’ seat and the sh*t show of replacing McCarthy had I suspect every House Republican wanting to avoid another scandal. Especially a SEX scandal and one that involved paying underage teens for sex at its core to boot!  So things seem to have slowed down. However they didn’t stop. As I’ve noted the Ethics Committee seems to be more narrowly focused and that’s bad news for Bratty Matty. So he’s gone on offense with a letter making all kinds of claims about never having had sex with anyone under 18, never taken ‘illicit’ drugs and claiming his former partner Joel Greenberg who is currently in prison made up lies about him. (What about those Venmo receipts on your credit card Matt?)  Basically it was an everything but FAKE NEWS screed.  So what prompted it?:

Gaetz’s letter came in response to an inquiry the panel sent the mega-Trump ally on Sept. 4 as the committee investigates a number of allegations against him. When it first announced it was reviewing Gaetz’s conduct, the panel said it was looking into whether he had “engaged in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, accepted improper gifts, dispensed special privileges and favors to individuals with whom he had a personal relationship, and sought to obstruct government investigations of his conduct.”

It will be interesting to see if the subpoena Gaetz mentioned gets issued and when. Even more interesting will be how he responds. It could be quite the circus if Gaetz blows it off.  We’ll  just have to wait and see. What matters is that the House Ethics Committee isn’t done with Gaetz after all. In fact I see echoes of Jack Smith paring down charges against Trump to keep things as simple as possible using rock solid evidence.  I think Gaetz may be thinking the same thing.  His statement suggests to me at least he’s scared as hell. Being kicked out of the House will leave him more vulnerable to prosecutors down in Florida.  So keep an eye on this.  Gaetz might yet find himself being held accountable for being…well Matt Gaetz!