{"id":265055,"date":"2024-11-21T18:26:16","date_gmt":"2024-11-21T18:26:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/2024\/11\/21\/who-is-matt-gaetz-5-facts-about-the-florida-congressman-hollywood-life\/"},"modified":"2025-06-25T17:10:24","modified_gmt":"2025-06-25T17:10:24","slug":"who-is-matt-gaetz-5-facts-about-the-florida-congressman-hollywood-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/2024\/11\/21\/who-is-matt-gaetz-5-facts-about-the-florida-congressman-hollywood-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Who Is Matt Gaetz? 5 Facts About The Florida Congressman \u2013 Hollywood Life"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Image Credit: CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Imag<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Former Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz\u00a0<\/strong><\/a>was nominated by Donald Trump<\/strong><\/a> to be the new attorney general \u2014 then he backed away from the bid. In his November 13, 2024, announcement via Truth Social, the president-elect called Gaetz a \u201cdeeply gifted and tenacious attorney\u201d who was \u201ctrained at the William & Mary College of Law.\u201d But just one week later, Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration after his sex trafficking allegations came back to light.<\/p>\n

Previously, Gaetz was accused of engaging in sexual intercourse with a 17-year-old girl and paying for her travel, The New York Times<\/em><\/a> first reported in March 2021. The age of sexual consent in Florida is 18. At the time, the Department of Justice investigated whether Gaetz violated sex trafficking laws.<\/p>\n

Gaetz, however, vehemently denied all allegations in a statement. In what Fox News\u2019 Tucker Carlson<\/strong> called his \u201cweirdest interview ever,\u201d Gaetz claimed at the time that the allegations were part of an ongoing effort to extort him and his family. \u201cOver the past several weeks my family and I have been victims of an organized criminal extortion involving a former DOJ official seeking $25 million while threatening to smear my name\u2026 I demand the DOJ immediately release the tapes, made at their direction, which implicate their former colleague in crimes against me based on false allegations,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have not had a relationship with a 17-year-old,\u201d Gaetz said in his Tucker Carlson Tonight<\/em> interview. \u201cThat is totally false. The allegation is, I read it in the New York Times<\/em>, is that I\u2019ve traveled with some 17-year-old in some relationship. That is false, and records will bear that out to be false.\u00a0Providing for flights and hotel rooms for people that you\u2019re dating who are of legal age is not a crime\u2026\u00a0People were talking about a minor and that there were pictures of me with child prostitutes. That\u2019s obviously false. There will be no such pictures, because no such thing happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Matt Gaetz vows to Tucker Carlson he didn’t “travel” with a 17-year-old, but his denial seems pretty specific and carefully worded pic.twitter.com\/emGePJeVfV<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 31, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

He claimed that his father, former president of the Florida state Senate Donald Gaetz<\/strong>, \u201chas even been wearing a wire at the FBI\u2019s direction to catch these criminals.\u201d The former DOJ official Gaetz named was attorney David McGee<\/strong>, who denied any involvement in the investigation or attempts to exort the family to The Washington Post<\/em><\/a>. McGee confirmed that Donald Gaetz had reached out to him to discuss a subject he declined to disclose.<\/p>\n

Gaetz reportedly gained a reputation when he arrived to Congress in 2017 for bragging about his sexual exploits, multiple sources told CNN<\/a>. The sources alleged that Gatz showed photos and videos of nude women whom he slept with, which he kept on his phone, to other lawmakers (including on the House floor). The sources, allegedly including two people shown the explicit material, told CNN that Gaetz described having sex with the women as well.<\/p>\n

Gaetz could have been charged under the Mann Act<\/a>, which prohibits bringing anyone across state lines \u201cwith intent that such individual engage in prostitution, or in any sexual activity for which any person can be charged with a criminal offense.\u201d The investigation opened in 2020 under President Trump\u2019s administration. Gaetz told Axios<\/em><\/a>, \u201cThe allegations against me are as searing as they are false. I believe that there are people at the Department of Justice who are trying to criminalize my sexual conduct, you know when I was a single guy.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, the DOJ concluded its investigation and did not charge Gaetz with any crimes.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what else you need to know about Gaetz:<\/p>\n

Gaetz Was Also Investigated For Allegedly Paying Women Online For Sex<\/h2>\n

The DOJ\u2019s investigation is focused on Gaetz\u2019s alleged involvement with \u201cmultiple women who were recruited online for sex and received cash payments,\u201d\u00a0The New York Times<\/em><\/a> reported on April 1. Investigators believe that Joel Greenberg<\/strong>, a former tax collector in Florida who was indicted in 2020 on a federal sex trafficking charge, met the women in question on websites where women go on dates in exchange for gifts and money, according to sources who spoke with the paper. Investigators claim Greenberg introduced the women to Gaetz, who allegedly had sex with them. Gaetz has denied ever paying a woman for sex.<\/p>\n

The New York Times<\/em> claims they reviewed receipts from Cash App and Apple Pay that show money sent to one of the women by Gaetz and Greenberg, and from Greenberg to another woman. Gaetz and Greenberg allegedly told women to meet them at hotels and other locations in Florida throughout 2019 and 2020. One woman told the paper that Gaetz and Greenberg also sometimes paid her in cash.<\/p>\n

\"Matt
Rep. Matt Gaetz speaks at CPAC 2021 (Shutterstock)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Gaetz Once Claimed the Capitol Attacks Weren\u2019t All Trump Supporters<\/h2>\n

Gaetz incorrectly claimed that it was Antifa members and not<\/em> all Trump supporters who laid siege on the U.S. Capitol<\/a> on January 6, 2021. He declared, \u201cSome of the people who breached the Capitol today were not Trump supporters. They were masquerading as Trump supporters and in fact, were members of the violent terrorist group Antifa,\u201d to rounds of \u201cboo\u2019s\u201d<\/a> during a speech on the House floor early the following morning. Gaetz was flagged by Twitter for \u201cglorifying violence\u201d following an outrageous June 1, 2020 tweet amid the nationwide George Floyd<\/strong><\/a> police protests by writing, \u201cNow that we clearly see Antifa as terrorists, can we hunt them down like we do those in the Middle East?\u201d<\/p>\n

Gaetz has represented Florida\u2019s 1st congressional district since 2016, and has been reelected twice since. He is a member of the House Freedom Caucus and sits on the following committees: Committee on Armed Services, Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces, Committee on the Budget, Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property and the Internet, Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial and Antitrust Law. He has not been removed from any committees since news broke of his DOJ investigation.<\/p>\n

He Voted \u2018No\u2019 on a Bill Combatting Human Trafficking<\/h2>\n

Gaetz was the only Rep who voted \u201cno\u201d on the Combating Human Trafficking in Commercial Vehicles Act in 2017. The bill allocates additional government resources to combat human trafficking in the United States. Gaetz said on Facebook Live<\/a> that he opposed the bill because it represented \u201cmission creep\u201d of federal government. \u201cUnless there is an overwhelming, compelling reason that our existing agencies in the federal government can\u2019t handle that problem, I vote no because voters in Northwest Florida did not send me to Washington to go and create more federal government,\u201d Gaetz said.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s Been a Staunch Supporter of Donald Trump<\/h2>\n

Gaetz has alienated himself from Congressional colleagues for his fervent Trump support. Throughout Trump\u2019s presidency, Gaetz was constantly featured on Fox News and OAN parroting Trump\u2019s rhetoric. When Trump called Haiti a \u201csh*thole country\u201d<\/a> in 2018, Gaetz backed him up by tweeting, \u201cThe conditions in Haiti are deplorable, they are disgusting. I mean, everywhere you look in Haiti, it\u2019s sheet metal and garbage.\u201d Gaetz was so loyal to Trump that he even said he\u2019d resign<\/a> his House seat to represent Trump in his second impeachment trial if asked to join his legal team.<\/p>\n

\"Matt<\/p>\n

Gaetz Was Part of the #FreeBritney Movement<\/h2>\n

Britney Spears<\/strong><\/a> found a very unlikely ally in Gaetz. The congressman asked in March\u00a0that House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler<\/strong> (D-NY) host a televised inquiry into the due process of conservatorships, and specifically mentioned the \u201cToxic\u201d singer in his letter. In his letter, Gaetz brought up many points of contention that appeared in the documentary Framing Britney Spears<\/em><\/a>, including how her father came about having control \u2014 and keeping it \u2014 over Britney\u2019s life via the conservatorship<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe facts and circumstancing giving rise to this arrangement remain in dispute but involve questionable motives and legal tactics by her father and now-conservator, Jamie Spears<\/strong>,\u201d he wrote. Gaetz later tweeted<\/a> on Mar. 9 that \u201cI think @britneyspears would be a great witness in the House Judiciary Committee. She would likely have a lot to say on conservatorships. #FreeBritney\u201d<\/p>\n

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