Conservatives use new tack to target voting machines
Lachlan Markay
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) joined a group of conservatives last week at a training session for activists readying to combat the continued use of the voting technology that propelled Trumpworld's 2020 election-theft conspiracy theories.
Why it matters: Theories about uncounted or overcounted votes have become politically tricky and legally problematic for their most prominent backers. The activist training is part of an effort to put a more respectable and pragmatic face on the trend.
What's happening: The remote event was hosted last Friday by the Leadership Institute and emceed by Matthew Braynard, who spearheaded an effort to unearth proof of 2020 voter fraud.
"If we focus only on why people vote, and the left focuses on how votes are laundered and processed and requested and returned and verified, then we can have the better ideas and still lose power," Gaetz warned in opening remarks. Braynard and a handful of Leadership Institute staffers trained activists about how to lobby state and county governments to oppose the use of voting machines such as those made by Dominion Voting Systems, which has been targeted with outlandish and false attacks by Donald Trump, his legal team and supporters. Braynard is already pushing for Stark County, Ohio, to end a contract with Dominion.
Dominion was in the news again Monday after it filed a $1.3 billion lawsuit against MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, accusing him of harming the firm with baseless criticism of its machines. The training effort is part of a larger campaign by Braynard's group, Look Ahead America, to combat what it calls "black-box" voting technology. The proprietary nature of equipment such as Dominion's makes it more difficult to publicly inspect the ways in which that technology tabulates votes, he insists. Braynard says the proposed alternative — "open-source" equipment — "removes the dangerous suspicion that election results are not valid."
Reality check: That "dangerous suspicion" about the 2020 election is entirely a product of conspiracy theories floated by Trump and his allies. Braynard himself launched a group late last year called the Voter Integrity Project, which used public voter data to attempt to root out ostensibly fraudulent or suspicious votes in key swing states. Braynard's data was cited in multiple unsuccessful lawsuits seeking to overturn 2020 election results. But some of that data fell apart under closer examination. Braynard nonetheless raised more than half a million dollars for the effort.
While the Voter Integrity Project did not have formal financial reporting requirements, Braynard documented its spending in a public spreadsheet to address any concerns that money was misspent or steered to him personally. The leftover funds — about $85,000, he told Axios — have been donated to Look Ahead America, which Braynard founded in 2018. He's now restarting the organization, which had its tax-exempt status revoked after repeatedly failing to file IRS forms. Braynard says it's already raised another $75,000 and brought on a new treasurer to address the prior reporting errors.
A Brief History of Matt Gaetz’s Worst Moments
A Brief History of Matt Gaetz’s Worst Moments
The Florida congressman is a wannabe Republican star and a petulant idiot.
FEATURED Oct 24, 2019 by Joe Virgillito
Donald Trump’s Republican Party is full of soulless, power-hungry ghouls who’ll do anything to acquire power and get their presidential daddy to notice them. And none of Trump’s tiny sycophants are worse than Florida representative Matt Gaetz.
Yesterday, Gaetz led a group of two dozen House Republicans into Congress’ Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF), where the Pentagon’s top Ukraine official was giving testimony in the ongoing impeachment inquiry. It was a brash (and very likely illegal) stunt designed to turn impeachment into a true political circus and get Donald Trump’s attention. Gaetz, like the megadork he is, compared charging into the SCIF to the movie 300.
But the SCIF stunt is far from Gaetz’s first time caping for Trump or foraying into political idiocy. Here’s a brief list of the other shitty things he’s done during his first term.
Used a Conspiracy Subreddit For a Legal Resolution
Back in 2017, Gaetz introduced an amendment to the House Judiciary Committee calling for investigations into Hillary Clinton and James Comey. According to political reporter Ashley Feinberg, nearly two-thirds of the amendment’s contents were sourced from the subreddit r/The_Donald, “a subreddit notorious for playing host to unfounded conspiracy theories and anti-Islam tendencies.”
Invited a Holocaust Denier to the State of the Union
Charles C. Johnson was apparently invited by several representatives but accepted Gaetz’s invite because “[Gaetz] is into the stuff on issues I care about.” Gaetz denied Johnson’s white supremacist views, even when presented with evidence that Johnson raised money for the legal defense of neo-Nazi website The Daily Stormer.
Threatened Michael Cohen Before His Testimony
The night before Michael Cohen’s bombshell testimony before the House Oversight Committee, Gaetz tweeted at Cohen saying he knew about the lawyer’s alleged extramarital affairs. Gaetz provided no evidence, leading to accusations of attempting to intimidate Cohen.
Doesn’t Know Where the Term ‘Kangaroo Court’ Comes From
Did anyone expect a congressman to utter the phrase “malicious Captain Kangaroo”?
Matt Gaetz thinks that the term "kangaroo court" comes from the TV show Captain Kangaroo pic.twitter.com/4x6PsiLCDy
— The Hardy Report (@EdwardTHardy) October 8, 2019
Lt Root Beer of the Mighty 699th. Fogbow s titular Mama June in Fogbow's Favourite Show™ Mama June: From Not To Hot! Fogbow's Theme Song™ Edith Massey's "I Got The Evidence!" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5jDHZd0JAg
Agree, poor Nestor. Matt dumped him for Ginger Luckey, the sister of the dude who sold OcculusVR to Facebook.
No more Tucker for you, Nestor.
Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz is engaged to Ginger Luckey
By Lia Eustachewich December 31, 2020 | 1:05pm | Updated
So on an ordinary night at the most beautiful place in the world, this just happened…
Congratulations, the future Mr. & Mrs. @mattgaetz! #SheSaidYes! #Congrats! #engaged #WagonWheel pic.twitter.com/cEjznDBCWu
— Dr. Gina – RAV (@RealAmVoice) (@RealDrGina) December 31, 2020
The Florida congressman popped the question Wednesday night to his girlfriend Ginger Luckey — whose brother is Oculus VR founder Palmer Luckey, the Pensacola News Journal reported. Gaetz, 38, shared the good news on his Twitter, retweeting a post from Judge Jeanine Pirro of a snap of the happy couple apparently moments after the big ask. “Thank you for sharing the moment with us Judge!” Gaetz wrote. Radio host Gina Loudon posted video of the surprise engagement at President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, the Daily Mail reported.
The Republican’s soon-to-be wife, 26, is a graduate of the University of California, Santa Barbara, and currently an analyst at Apeel, a biotechnology firm in California that helps keep food fresh, according to her LinkedIn. Luckey’s college-dropout brother Palmer offloaded his virtual reality startup to Facebook in 2014 for a cool $2 billion. Gaetz’s engagement comes after he raised eyebrows last month for his flirtatious reply on Tiffany Trump’s photo — which included heart eyes and a fire emoji.The close Trump ally’s relationship status at the time wasn’t known, but in early December, he tweeted a photo of him and Luckey dressed up at the White House.
Lt Root Beer of the Mighty 699th. Fogbow s titular Mama June in Fogbow's Favourite Show™ Mama June: From Not To Hot! Fogbow's Theme Song™ Edith Massey's "I Got The Evidence!" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5jDHZd0JAg
This continues to be creepy. Referring to Nestor as his son
"My son is a college freshman. He had no real graduation, no prom, and I struggled with whether or not to allow him to enjoy spring break at Panama City beach. I allowed him to have an abbreviated one." -- Matt Gaetz
SCOOP: Rep. Matt Gaetz has privately told confidants he's seriously considering not seeking re-election and possibly leaving Congress early for a job at Newsmax, three sources with direct knowledge of the talks tell Axios.
SCOOP: Rep. Matt Gaetz has privately told confidants he's seriously considering not seeking re-election and possibly leaving Congress early for a job at Newsmax, three sources with direct knowledge of the talks tell Axios.
Suranis wrote: ↑Tue Mar 30, 2021 3:35 pm
The internal polling must be utter shit for Gaetz to announce that he's quitting "to spend time with his family" before he is fired.
Not necessarily. It's just where the incentives are in Republican politics these days. Jason Chaffetz was the first to discover that the career progression on their side is as follows:
Step 1) Get elected to Congress
Step 2) Use seat in Congress to be an obnoxious ass and get lots of TV coverage for it
Step 3) Go on Fox a lot complaining about how mistreated you are for being an obnoxious ass
Step 4) Leave Congress to work full-time in conservative media making way more money
This is what happens when your party has no desire to govern or make policy. The GOP today is nothing more than a perpetual motion machine for generating and maintaining a level of outrage, and then raising money off of that outrage.
"There's no play here. There's no angle. There's no champagne room. I'm not a miracle worker, I'm a janitor. The math on this is simple. The smaller the mess, the easier it is for me to clean up." -Michael Clayton
Nestor should get a job at the Gateway House of Boys (and Pundits). Matt must know Jim Hoft well enough to hook him up.
Most eager for Nestor's tell-all book. Maybe we could start Fogbow Press and publish it? Foggy, would that be OK? Then we could publish the eagerly awaited sequel to Levi Johnston's book, "Deer in the Headlights"
And Suranis, Gaetz is in a firm RW Florida district. The problem is he's useless now because the GOP has no power. If he's thinking of bolting, internal polling must not look too good for reclaiming the House in 2022.
POLITICO Playbook PM: Gaetz reckons with his new reality
By EUGENE DANIELS and GARRETT ROSS 03/30/2021 01:22 PM EDT Updated 03/30/2021 02:32 PM EDT After Donald Trump’s loss, Rep. Matt Gaetz’s (R-Fla.) direct line to power is gone. He’s effectively been demoted to being in the minority of the minority party
Florida Rep. MATT GAETZ is eyeing early retirement for a potential gig with Newsmax, Axios reported this morning. The move would make a lot of sense for Gaetz. He’s been down on his job since he arrived in Congress four years ago, chafing at the importance of seniority and what he sees as the phoniness of D.C. culture.
Gaetz is best known for his unadulterated loyalty to DONALD TRUMP: The Florida congressman has become a fixture on right-wing media as a go-to defender of the former president, including by spreading some of Trump’s big falsehoods. That made him far more powerful than your typical junior member of Congress.
But after Trump’s loss, Gaetz’s direct line to power is gone. He’s effectively been demoted to being in the minority of the minority party. It’s got to be a comedown. According to our Florida Man Marc Caputo, for months Gaetz has been having conversations with lots of people about what’s next for him, whether it be political or otherwise (i.e. Newsmax).
On the political front, we’re told an ally of Gaetz paid pollster RYAN TYSON to test the appetite of voters for Gaetz (or Florida Senate President Wilton Simpson) for state commissioner of agriculture in his home state.
Rootin tootin AgSec, don't think so. Matty needs to be on Greg "Ted Baxter" Kelly's network and out of politics. BONUS: Newsmax in is Palm Beach, so he'll be home for dinner with Nestor every night, like Orly was with her young children.
PS: Matty is probably salivating over the idea of running for FL Governor when DeSantis runs for POTUS. He thinks that way. Newsmax increases his visibility, makes some money, and lets him throw bombs where somebody is listening. And did I mention: he'll be home for dinner with Nestor every night?
"We share no blood but he is my life." -- Matt Gaetz
Nestor Galban is the younger brother of an ex-girlfriend of Gaetz. The 19-year-old has apparently been living with the congressman on-and-off since he was 12. While Gaetz refers to Galban as his “son,” he’s never adopted him.
Nestor is the Dom.
Devin Nunes' Mom's Son Devin @visionsurreal Jun 19, 2020
Hi America - time to say hello to Nestor Galban's father.
He doesn't go by @mattgaetz
His name is Nestor Garban (aka Nestor Galban, Nersto Gaeban). And he lives in Florida. [Daddy has aliases? )
Nestor has Twitter & Insta:
Nestor Galban (@galban_nestor) | Twitterhttps://twitter.com › galban_nestor
The latest Tweets from Nestor Galban (@galban_nestor). Instagram: @nestorgalban_5
Followed by Marine For Joe Biden and William LeGate (ig: @legate)
Hope Matt and his soon-to-be-wife have had The Talk.
Lt Root Beer of the Mighty 699th. Fogbow s titular Mama June in Fogbow's Favourite Show™ Mama June: From Not To Hot! Fogbow's Theme Song™ Edith Massey's "I Got The Evidence!" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5jDHZd0JAg
Representative Matt Gaetz, Republican of Florida and a close ally of former President Donald J. Trump, 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, according to three people briefed on the matter.
Investigators are examining whether Mr. Gaetz violated federal sex trafficking laws, the people said. A variety of federal statutes make it illegal to induce someone under 18 to travel over state lines to engage in sex in exchange for money or something of value. The Justice Department regularly prosecutes such cases, and offenders often receive severe sentences.
It was not clear how Mr. Gaetz met the girl, believed to be 17 at the time of encounters about two years ago that investigators are scrutinizing, according to two of the people.
The investigation was opened in the final months of the Trump administration under Attorney General William P. Barr, the two people said. Given Mr. Gaetz’s national profile, senior Justice Department officials in Washington — including some appointed by Mr. Trump — were notified of the investigation, the people said.
The three people said that the examination of Mr. Gaetz, 38, is part of a broader investigation into 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.
Mr. Greenberg, who has since resigned his post as tax collector in Seminole County, north of Orlando, visited the White House with Mr. Gaetz in 2019, according to a photograph that Mr. Greenberg posted on Twitter.
No charges have been brought against Mr. Gaetz, and the extent of his criminal exposure is unclear.
Tim Walz’ Golden Rule: Mind your own damn business!
"There's no play here. There's no angle. There's no champagne room. I'm not a miracle worker, I'm a janitor. The math on this is simple. The smaller the mess, the easier it is for me to clean up." -Michael Clayton
Poor Nestor. Somebody's going to be cooking his OWN dinner tonight (looking at you, Matty).
***
From Nestor's Dad's Facebook page, looks like fun!
Lt Root Beer of the Mighty 699th. Fogbow s titular Mama June in Fogbow's Favourite Show™ Mama June: From Not To Hot! Fogbow's Theme Song™ Edith Massey's "I Got The Evidence!" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5jDHZd0JAg
Fred.
@freeloosedirt
I’m old enough to remember when he was the only member of Congress to vote against giving more money and authority to the feds to fight human trafficking.
5:04 PM · Mar 30, 2021
Mr. Gaetz said in an interview that his lawyers had been in touch with the Justice Department and that they were told he was the subject, not the target, of an investigation. “I only know that it has to do with women,” Mr. Gaetz said. “I have a suspicion that someone is trying to recategorize my generosity to ex-girlfriends as something more untoward.”
A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment, as did a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Central Florida.
Mr. Greenberg pleaded not guilty last year and was sent to jail this month for violating the terms of his bail. He is scheduled to go on trial in June in Orlando.
JACOB WOHL, [30.03.21 18:04]
[ Photo ] I know who the girl is.
JACOB WOHL, [30.03.21 18:04]
Does Matt Gaetz know that Snapchat doesn’t really vanish?
Lonnie, [30.03.21 18:05]
[In reply to JACOB WOHL]
He’s always looked like a pedo to me, but I always figured it’d be boys
Jacob Wohl, [30.03.21 18:05]
[In reply to Lonnie]
He’s Bisexual
T Dog, [30.03.21 18:06]
[In reply to JACOB WOHL]
You don’t make it into politics unless you are compromised. ZOG won’t allow a decent person to touch the levers of power.
Sunshine, [30.03.21 18:06]
[In reply to T Dog]
Seems to be the case.
Sunshine, [30.03.21 18:07]
[In reply to Jacob Wohl]
Oh lovely. And he’s married isn’t he?
What a shock Matty probably propositioned Jakey.
Lt Root Beer of the Mighty 699th. Fogbow s titular Mama June in Fogbow's Favourite Show™ Mama June: From Not To Hot! Fogbow's Theme Song™ Edith Massey's "I Got The Evidence!" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5jDHZd0JAg