Matt Gaetz - Matthew Louis Gaetz II R-FL1 Bday May 7, 1982 Taurus / Dog & His Helper, Nestor Galban

[Kendra]

Liz Cheney to CBS on Matt Gaetz: "As the mother of daughters, the charges certainly are sickening."

I agree that the charges are sickening. But you don’t have to be a mother, and you don’t have to have daughters, to be sickened by it. As a human being, the charges are sickening.

Agreed.

[Kendra]

I can't express enough how much I hate that a Cheney has become the voice of reason in the GOP.

Me too.

[Patagoniagirl]

I agree that the charges are sickening. But you don’t have to be a mother, and you don’t have to have daughters, to be sickened by it. As a human being, the charges are sickening.

Agreed.

While this is heartening, I am always bothered by the protestation of "as the parent of..." I don't need to have daughters to find this sickening. I don't need to have diabetes to be outraged at drug proces, I don't need a trans child to be appalled.

I'll tell you what I think is sickening. That for many Republicans it take a personal connection to have empathy and understanding. That's sickening.

[Luke]

There's one Cheney who is cool -- Mary. Mary and Heather are still together, they are raising a boy and a girl. And Dick Cheney still literally has no heart.

The Race That Broke the Cheney Family
What happened when a gay sister came between Liz Cheney and a Senate seat.
By JASON ZENGERLE November 20, 2013

Liz Cheney just wanted to enjoy her milkshake. It was a Friday afternoon in early November, and the shadows were growing longer over the flat expanse of eastern Wyoming as a hard week dragged on. There had been hundreds of miles to cover and just as many hands to shake before Cheney, who was traversing the state in a road-worn SUV, sank into a booth across from me at a McDonald’s just off Interstate 25, in the town of Douglas (population: 6,280). Now, she was relishing a chocolate milkshake as she gladly held forth on her family’s new home, her father’s new heart and her own new career as a politician. In her black jeans and black sweater, with no campaign aide to monitor the interview or fend off intrusive questions, the 47-year-old Cheney seemed less an aspiring senator than a soccer mom happily juggling five kids and a tough new job. But then I asked Cheney about gay marriage, and she visibly stiffened. A frown came over her face, and she began jabbing her straw into her chocolate shake, which would go untouched for the rest of our conversation.

Clearly, the issue was a political problem for Cheney; how could it not be for a Republican primary challenger in a deeply red state whose sister, Mary, is a lesbian who married her longtime partner last year? This summer, someone had called around Wyoming under the guise of a poll asserting that Cheney “aggressively promotes gay marriage,” a claim soon followed by a TV ad on the same theme. The attacks had forced Liz’s hand, and she had promptly issued a statement opposing gay marriage. More than two months later, she was still seething about the way she had been pushed into it. And she knew just whom to blame: Mike Enzi, the three-term Republican senator and former family friend she is seeking to unseat. “I think if Senator Enzi had any self-respect, he’d stand up and renounce it, he’d say this doesn’t have any place in Wyoming, he’d say that it’s despicable,” Cheney told me. “This is certainly being done by friends of his, by supporters of his. … And I think the combination of the ad and the push poll is clearly an effort on their part to use that issue and to do it in a way that I think is beneath the dignity of the office of a United States Senator.”

But there was more to Cheney’s anger. Unbeknownst even to some of her closest friends and advisers, her newly announced opposition to gay marriage had caused a major rift in the famously close Cheney family, and she and Mary were no longer on speaking terms. Days after we talked it all became public, when, in a series of Facebook posts as devastating as they were surprising, Mary blasted her sister’s stance against marriage equality. “Liz’s position is to treat my family as second class citizens,” Mary wrote. “This isn't like a disagreement over grazing fees or what to do about Iran.” The public rebuke was the first communication between the sisters since August, and soon their parents, former Vice President Dick Cheney and his wife, Lynne, found themselves dragged into the imbroglio, issuing a statement defending Liz.

But Mary wasn’t done speaking out. In a series of emails to me this week, as the news of her break with her sister spread, Mary wrote, “I’m not supporting Liz’s candidacy.” She later clarified: “By supporting, I mean not working, not contributing, and not voting for (I’m registered in Virginia not Wyoming).” The best she could say of the sister who was once her close friend and confidante was a final postscript: “I am not saying I hope she loses to Enzi.”

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story ... ly-100174/

[Kendra]

https://this.kiji.is/753743250925813760 ... 7532812385

ORLANDO, Fla. — Jason Pirozzolo, a politically-connected Orlando hand surgeon who used to serve on the board of the agency that oversees Orlando International Airport, was named in a Wednesday night report by CBS News as a figure in the sex trafficking investigation targeting U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz and former Seminole tax collector Joel Greenberg.

Citing unnamed sources, CBS News reported that Pirozzolo paid for travel, accommodations and female escorts on a trip to the Bahamas with Gaetz in late 2018 or early 2019.

“Investigators are trying to determine if the escorts were illegally trafficked across state or international lines for the purpose of sex with the congressman,” CBS News reported.

The probe reportedly arose from an investigation into Greenberg, who is facing a slew of federal charges, including sex trafficking of a child, wire fraud, stalking and bribery of a public official.

A longtime fundraiser for Republicans who lives in Winter Garden and invests in medical marijuana companies, Pirozzolo rose to political prominence in Central Florida in 2019 when Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed him to Greater Orlando Airport Authority. Who recommended Pirozzolo? Gaetz.

[filly]

Thanks Kendra. I posted those stories earlier last week.

I sure hope the jail has Greenberg on suicide watch and in a secure area. According to a NYT piece up today, Greenberg was involuntarily committed to a psych. ward when he was 21. As Maddow also reported, when he we arrested on his bail violation he held deputies at bay for 5 hours, claiming he had explosives in his house.

[Volkonski]

Embattled Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz is denied a meeting with Trump

https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/11/politics ... index.html

Two people familiar with the matter said Gaetz tried to schedule a visit with Trump after it was first revealed that he was being investigated, but the request was rejected by aides close to the former President, who have urged Trump not to stick his neck out to defend Gaetz. Spokespeople for both Gaetz and Trump did not respond to a request for comment.

The interference by Trump's aides signals that Gaetz finds himself increasingly isolated as he weathers a potentially career-ending scandal just months after he offered to leave his plum job in Congress to join the 45th President's impeachment defense team. Trump has issued only one statement about Gaetz since the public first learned of the congressman's role in a sex trafficking inquiry at the beginning of April. In it, Trump denied ever receiving a blanket pardon request from the 38-year-old congressman and noted Gaetz's denial of the allegations against him.

Federal investigators are examining allegations that Gaetz had sex with an underage girl who was 17 at the time and with other women who were provided drugs and money in violation of sex trafficking and prostitution laws. Federal investigators are also seeking to determine whether Gaetz was provided travel and women in exchange for political favors as part of a broader probe, people familiar with the investigation tell CNN.

Gaetz has continued to deny all allegations against him and has not been charged with any crimes.

[Kendra]

Thanks Kendra. I posted those stories earlier last week.

I sure hope the jail has Greenberg on suicide watch and in a secure area. According to a NYT piece up today, Greenberg was involuntarily committed to a psych. ward when he was 21. As Maddow also reported, when he we arrested on his bail violation he held deputies at bay for 5 hours, claiming he had explosives in his house.

Sorry I missed the earlier postings, it's hard to keep track, especially on the busy days when I have to skim the threads

Maddow's reporting on the Greenberg arrest was interesting...damn those redactions.

[filly]

Thanks Kendra. I posted those stories earlier last week.

I sure hope the jail has Greenberg on suicide watch and in a secure area. According to a NYT piece up today, Greenberg was involuntarily committed to a psych. ward when he was 21. As Maddow also reported, when he we arrested on his bail violation he held deputies at bay for 5 hours, claiming he had explosives in his house.

Sorry I missed the earlier postings, it's hard to keep track, especially on the busy days when I have to skim the threads

Maddow's reporting on the Greenberg arrest was interesting...damn those redactions.

Yeah it’s scary that Greenberg was allowed to purchase guns.

[Suranis]

Florida Politician denied meeting with New York loser.

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/04/11/poli ... index.html

Rep. Matt Gaetz, who's facing a federal investigation into sex trafficking allegations, was recently denied a meeting with Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate as the ex-President and his allies continue to distance themselves from the Florida congressman.
Two people familiar with the matter said Gaetz tried to schedule a visit with Trump after it was first revealed that he was being investigated, but the request was rejected by aides close to the former President, who have urged Trump not to stick his neck out to defend Gaetz. Harlan Hill, a spokesman for Gaetz, said the congressman did not request a meeting with Trump this week.

"Rep. Gaetz was welcomed to Trump Doral this week and has not sought to meet with President Trump himself," Hill said in a statement to CNN, claiming that Gaetz has "been mostly relaxing with his fiancée this week during recess."

The interference by Trump's aides signals that Gaetz finds himself increasingly isolated as he weathers a potentially career-ending scandal just months after he offered to leave his plum job in Congress to join the 45th President's impeachment defense team. Trump has issued only one statement about Gaetz since the public first learned of the congressman's role in a sex trafficking inquiry at the beginning of April. In it, Trump denied ever receiving a blanket pardon request from the 38-year-old congressman and noted Gaetz's denial of the allegations against him.

Following repeated requests for comment, Trump spokesman Jason Miller wrote in a tweet on Sunday evening that Gaetz did not request a meeting "and therefore, it could never have been denied."

Just highlighted a Loserian caveat used when they try not to technically lie, for once.

[Chilidog]

"This week" being Sunday?

[Volkonski]

‘Felt like a setup’: WhatsApp chat shows Gaetz ally scrambling to contain fallout
The Florida congressman’s "wingman" said he was paying legal fees for the former teen at the center of the case.

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/04/1 ... erg-480962

The Florida county tax collector was five days away from a federal indictment for sex trafficking involving a 17-year-old — the same one Gaetz is now being investigated over — so Greenberg reached out to mutual friends on Aug. 14 last year and tried to enlist them in his defense, according to a WhatsApp chat shared with federal investigators and obtained by POLITICO.

He fumed that the prosecutor should be fired. He suspected that a political consultant “was the rat here.” He fretted that investigators had combed through his Venmo cash app history, fearing it led them to the former teen at the center of the case.



Greenberg went so far as to push Gaetz to use his influence with Trump for a pardon, according to two sources familiar with the discussions, including one who heard Greenberg say it repeatedly.

Asked about the request from Greenberg, Gaetz previously declined to confirm or deny that it occurred. But the congressman said he did not ask Trump to pardon Greenberg. Gaetz couldn’t be reached this weekend to discuss the WhatsApp messages that are the subject of this story.

[Slim Cognito]

I wonder how this is affecting his engagement. The cynic in me figured he knew he was being investigated and thought he could clean up his party boy image by getting married and settling down. No idea if the woman is in on the con or simply gullible. A part of me hopes she uses this to negotiate a no-prenup, unless she decides she still has some self-respect and runs for the hills.

[noblepa]

I wonder how this is affecting his engagement. The cynic in me figured he knew he was being investigated and thought he could clean up his party boy image by getting married and settling down. No idea if the woman is in on the con or simply gullible. A part of me hopes she uses this to negotiate a no-prenup, unless she decides she still has some self-respect and runs for the hills.

What makes you think that this scumbag would stop chasing underage girls, even after being married?

[Slim Cognito]

I don't. My arrogant opinion is that the marriage is for show.

[filly]

I don't. My arrogant opinion is that the marriage is for show.

What? Do you think Kelly Luckey isn't so lucky?

[Uninformed]

I don't. My arrogant opinion is that the marriage is for show.

I would rate your opinion as both resasonable and logical not arrogant. (might be because I agree...)

[Luke]

Allegedly, Matt and Ginger Luckey were on a previously scheduled vacation; they came back for the Amy Kremer event. Matt says that's why he didn't meet with DL2XIT. Must have been a swell time for those crazy kids.

Gaetz denies CNN report on Trump refusing to meet him, demands retraction
By Mark Moore April 12, 2021 | 9:29am | Updated

​Rep. Matt Gaetz, who faces allegations of sexual misconduct, pushed back at CNN for claiming that former President Donald Trump refused to meet with him — calling the report a lie and demanding a retraction.

“This is a total lie. I am on a pre-planned vacation with my fiancée. I was welcomed at Trump Doral days ago,” Gaetz posted on Twitter Sunday evening.

“No such meeting was denied nor sought. … When can we expect a retraction?” he continued.

https://nypost.com/2021/04/12/matt-gaet ... -meet-him/

[Azastan]

Not only do I wonder about the fiancée's thoughts, but I'd like to know how Nestor feels about 'Dad'.

[Slim Cognito]

Not only do I wonder about the fiancée's thoughts, but I'd like to know how Nestor feels about 'Dad'.

This whole Nestor thing creeps me out. It may be innocent, but I doubt it.

[Estiveo]

I think Gaetz' relationship to Nestor is more Daddy than Dad.

[Slim Cognito]

I don't. My arrogant opinion is that the marriage is for show.

I would rate your opinion as both resasonable and logical not arrogant. (might be because I agree...)

Off Topic

I picked up that phrasing years ago while watching Peter Tork (yes, THAT Peter Tork) interviewed by Rachel Maddow and it just stuck with me. He was my second favorite Monkee, after Davy, natch, and very intelligent. He was raised by radical leftist college professors so he grew up protesting injustices. Rest in Peace, Mr. Torkelson.

[Kendra]

NEW: Joel Greenberg, a onetime county tax collector, has been cooperating with federal investigators since last year and has disclosed that he and Matt Gaetz had encounters with women who were given cash or gifts in exchange for sex. w/
@ktbenner

[Luke]

Oops on the timing... Marj Q just posted a 20 tweet storm defending Matty.





Disgusting Harlan Hill, whom you may remember even Fox News dropped "Fox News cut ties with a frequent guest after he called Kamala Harris an 'insufferable lying b----' on Twitter" https://www.businessinsider.com/harlan- ... is-2020-10 is, of course, Gaetz' PR firm.

[Dr. Ken]

Pizza Gaetz is just getting warmed up. It would be a "shame" if it took down the florida republican party