It’s already shaping up to be another no good, very bad week for Matt Gaetz.
The antigay congressman from Florida put on a big show last week when he picked a fight with Attorney General Merrick Garland during a congressional hearing. But his theatrics were clearly just a thinly veiled attempt at trying to distract from the far more serious issues going on in his personal life.
The New York Times reports that the Department of Justice has added not one but two top prosecutors to its ongoing teen sex trafficking investigation into Gaetz, “a sign of the complex and high-stakes nature of the inquiry.”
One of them is a public corruption investigator who deals specifically with child exploitation crimes. The other is a deputy chief of the Public Integrity Section, a branch of the DOJ’s Criminal Division that’s “involved in nearly all major criminal investigations into alleged misconduct by federal, state, and local officials.”
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
Sooooo that doesn’t sound good for Matt.
But it gets worse.
Last week, a federal judge once again delayed the sentencing of his former wingman, Joel Greenberg, so Greenberg could continue providing dirt to investigators.
Assistant U.S. attorney Roger Handberg told the judge that Greenberg has made allegations against Gaetz that “take us to some places we did not anticipate.” So they need more time to dig through everything. Greenberg’s sentencing has been postponed to March 2022.
Oh, but it gets even worse.
Because as Gaetz’s personal legal troubles continue to pile up, his reelection campaign is burning through money. According to Florida Politics, the campaign has been spending way more than he’s bringing in.
As of last month, the campaign had about $1.5 million in cash on hand, but it’s been operating at a loss for most of 2021. In the third quarter, which has been his weakest quarter this year, Gaetz raised $527,150 but spent $627,129.
Florida Politics reports:
But donations took a significant decline after news of a still-unresolved sex scandal. Gaetz raised $1.83 million in the first quarter of the year, when he spent $1.35 million. Then in the second quarter, he raised $1.46 million, but burned through $1.95 million. That means in total, he pulled in $3.8 million since the dawn of 2021, but has spent $3.92 million.
A lot of the money has gone to consultants, campaign staff, and mailers. On top of all that, he’s had to issue almost $9,000 in refunds to donors, which is “unusually high.”
Graham Gremore is the Features Editor and a Staff Writer at Queerty. Follow him on Twitter @grahamgremore.
Cam
Anybody else feel like the DOJ will drag this investigation out for 5 years, until Gaetz is out of Congress, and will then offer him a plea where he will do 1 hour of community service and not have to register as a sex offender?
tomamundo
Sounds good an hour of community service at a home for unwed mothers.
inbama
Agreed.
Months of articles about “a terrible week for Matt Gaetz, and I’m still waiting for something to actually happen.
Ditto for that insurrectionist criminal in Mar-a-Lago.
Phillip
I wonder if he will still have that same old sneer on his face when he’s placed in handcuffs and given a perp walk to the squad car? I do hope it’s all filmed and on the 5:00p News Hour.
woodroad34
He’s a hardened offender…I’m sure in the back of his mind, he’s expecting daddy to somehow bail him out–he’ll still have ‘merde’ on his shoes, but he’ll be able to deal with the stink.
Bengali
Please help me spread the hashtags
#SubpoenaNestorGalban
#WhatDoesNestorKnow
Steven
Old news.
mozzer
Tired of hearing he’s having another “bad week”… LOCK THIS MF’R UP ALREADY! TRUMP TOO and the rest of those bastards!
Jbaltes
I couldn’t agree more. The longer this drags out the greater the likelihood, it seems, of his sliding through unscathed. These slippery bastards seem to have a way of slithering out of almost everything.
GayEGO
Good! Throw Matt Gaetz under the bus! He will be convicted and jailed for his sex abuses!
JPB
And what’s with the characters that donate money to this sleazeball? Stop the world…
avesraggiana
He’s male, he’s straight, he’s white, he’s rich, and he has powerful people protecting him. Doesn’t matter how many “bad weeks” this tool has, he will remain untouchable forever.
Fahd
Please continue to update us as the case unfolds. If the media were not banging the drum, it would be even easier for him to slither away, which he still may be able to do – his daddy’s clout and all….
dhmonarch89
STOP!!!!! You’ve been running Gaetz stories for months and he’s still NOT IN Jail! NO MORE Gaetz until he’s on trial and then in jail. Is any one here really interested in this douchebag?
barryaksarben
No keep his sick ass in the news. As trump showed that if you keep in the front of the cameras long enough you get what you want. I want him and trump to go to prison and once you stop reporting on it they make their dirty little deals in the dark adn get off
missvamp
im with the rest of you. i’m sick of these clickbait ads, with no real news. i want his sorry ass in jail, along with bobo & mtg.
doodleboi
Hard News Journalism is a thing of the past , the closest there is today is Rachel Maddow and I’m sure she is given restraints. All mainstream journalism is largely owned by Conservative Organizations
OhHellNo
I wouldn’t expect much more from Greenberg, he’s just leading the cops on to delay his trial. It doesn’t take longer to tell the crimes than it did to do them.