NYT Painted Matt Gaetz as a Child Sex Trafficker. One Year Later, He Has Not Been Charged.

[Geee]

SubStack

The Florida Congressman may one day be indicted and convicted. For now, this episode highlights the dangers and abuses of trying a person through media leaks.

 

 

On March 30 of last year, The New York Times published an article that was treated as a bombshell by the political class. Citing exclusively anonymous sources — “three people briefed on the matter” — the Paper of Record announced that Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) “is being investigated by the Justice Department over whether he had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old and paid for her to travel with him.”

The headline chosen by Times editors was as inflammatory and provocative as possible: “Matt Gaetz Is Said to Face Justice Dept. Inquiry Over Sex With an Underage Girl.” The paper, high up in the article, emphasized what grave crimes these were: “The Justice Department regularly prosecutes such cases, and offenders often receive severe sentences.” The article was extremely light on any actual evidence regarding Gaetz, instead devoting paragraph after paragraph to guilt-by-association tactics regarding “a political ally of his, a local official in Florida named Joel Greenberg, who was indicted last summer on an array of charges, including sex trafficking of a child and financially supporting people in exchange for sex, at least one of whom was an underage girl.”

Only in the seventh paragraph — well below the headline casting him as a pedophile and sex trafficker — did the Times bother to note: “No charges have been brought against Mr. Gaetz, and the extent of his criminal exposure is unclear.” Exactly one year after publication of that reputation-destroying article, this remains true: while the DOJ may one day formally accuse him, Gaetz has not been charged with, let alone convicted of, a single crime which The New York Times stapled onto his forehead.

[Valin]

It should be noted this was written by Glenn Greenwald. We may say may things about Glenn Greenwald. Being a Far Right Wing Radical Ain't One Of Them.

 

[Valin]

Charges unlikely against Gaetz in federal sex-trafficking probe

Josh Gerstein and Matt Dixon

09/23/2022

The federal investigation into Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz’s alleged sexual encounters with teenage girls is winding down and no charges are expected to be filed against the firebrand Republican congressman, a person familiar with the probe said Friday.

Federal prosecutors and the FBI began investigating Gaetz in late 2020 during the Trump administration over potential sex trafficking crimes related to allegations he’d paid women for sex and traveled overseas on at least one occasion to parties attended by teenagers who were not yet 18.

(Snip)

The Washington Post first reported Friday that career prosecutors have recommended not pursuing charges against Gaetz, in part due to concerns about the credibility of potential witnesses. It would be highly unusual for political appointees at the Justice Department to press forward with a prosecution in the face of opposition from top career officials.

Gaetz’s peril in the investigation seemed to intensify last year when a former close friend, former Seminole County, Fla., Tax Collector Joel Greenberg, pleaded guilty to six federal crimes including a sex trafficking charge and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors.

(Snip)

Greenberg, who was once considered Gaetz’s “wingman,” had faced credibility issues in part because of the massive list of charges he initially faced. Greenberg faced multiple indictments and a total of 33 criminal counts against him at one point, though he eventually pleaded guilty to only six counts. Those criminal charges included sex trafficking a minor, stalking and fraud. He’s facing a minimum of 12 years behind bars.

[Valin]

The Smearing Of Matt Gaetz

(Snip)

Compare Gaetz’s treatment by the Department of Justice with the tight-lipped handling of the ongoing probe into Hunter Biden, which we have to guess has turned up a salacious thing or two that hasn’t made its way to the press. 

And remember the contrast between them the next time President Joe Biden and his friends get on their high horse for the next lecture about the right wing’s inappropriate attacks on the integrity of our law-enforcement officials. They’ve been richly earned.