impending doom

Matt Gaetz is so screwed, appears to be preparing for “scorched earth” trial

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It’s been a while since we’ve heard anything about that ongoing federal investigation into Matt Gaetz‘s alleged sexual relationship with a high school student, but that could be changing soon.

According to The Daily Beast, the lack of developments could be for any number of reasons. Gaetz no doubt hopes people assume it means he’s innocent. More likely, however, is that investigators are exploring a wide range of complex charges. At least, that seems to be the conclusion many are drawing given the high-powered team of out-of-state attorneys he’s compiled.

The embattled Florida man’s team includes several well-known New York City litigators, including Donald Trump‘s former lawyer, Marc Mukasey, and Isabelle Kirshner, who represented former New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman after he was accused of assaulting multiple women.

Meanwhile, Gaetz’s campaign has retained New York-based trial lawyer Marc Fernich, perhaps best known for representing child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and convicted sex trafficker Keith Raniere, leader of the NXIVM cult.

Tristan Snell, a former assistant New York attorney general, tells The Daily Beast that the antigay congressman’s team suggests he’s “anticipating a trial.”

“It looks like a scorched-earth approach,” Snell says. “These are all big out-of-town lawyers. If your goal is to resolve something, you typically hire the top criminal defense attorney in the district, someone who’s a repeat customer there and has a good working relationship with that U.S. Attorney’s office. But these attorneys can go down there, burn down the building, and not have to worry about going back in the next day.”

Former federal prosecutor Jill Wine-Banks agrees, adding, “The fact he’s hiring trial lawyers would suggest that they are preparing for a trial, not a negotiation.”

And so does former federal prosecutor, Barb McQuade, who cautions, “Bringing in aggressive lawyers from out of town suggests a ‘scorched earth’ strategy. It may be effective in the court of public opinion, but rarely effective in a court of law.”

Here’s what people on Twitter are saying about the whole thing…

Graham Gremore is the Features Editor and a Staff Writer at Queerty. Follow him on Twitter @grahamgremore.

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