Matthew Louis Gaetz II (born May 7, 1982 in Hollywood, Florida) is an American lawyer and politician who has served as the U.S. representative for Florida's 1st congressional district since 2017. The district includes portions of Walton County and most of Escambia, Okaloosa, and Santa Rosa counties. A member of the Republican Party, he is widely regarded as a staunch proponent of far-right politics as well as an ally of former president Donald Trump
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Private-sector paydays threaten Mike Johnson's House majority Johnson will start Jan. 3 with (at most!) a 221-213 vote majority, before falling as low as 218-216 until special elections can replace Trump Cabinet appointees. Florida will hold a special election on April 1 to fill the seats of former Rep. Matt Gaetz and Trump's national security adviser nominee Rep. Michael Waltz. New York expects a similar timeline to replace Rep. Elise Stefanik, who's nominated as UN ambassador. The bottom line: Even at full strength, the House GOP majority will be at most 221-214. That's a margin nightmares are made of. (Axios 11/25/24) READ MORE>>>>> Woman tells investigators that Florida Republican Matt Gaetz paid her for sex Awoman interviewed by congressional investigators said that she received money from Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., in exchange for sex, sources familiar with the testimony told ABC News. Gaetz, an ally of former President Donald Trump, also allegedly paid others to attend parties where people engaged in sex and drugs, the outlet reported. Witnesses who spoke with House Ethics Committee staff had previously spoken with federal investigators as part of the Department of Justice's own probe into Gaetz and his erstwhile friend, Joel Greenberg, who was convicted in 2022 of sex trafficking a minor. According to the sources who spoke with ABC News, the witnesses were shown evidence of Venmo payments that they allegedly received from Gaetz and were asked whether those were for sex. (Salon 6/20/24) READ MORE>>>>> Matt Gaetz is Donald Trump’s whiny, grifting doppelgänger Haines Republican Bill Thomas announced on Friday that he is dropping from the House District 3 legislative race, leaving Democrat Rep. Andi Story of Juneau with an easy walk to victory with no opponent this year. All three Juneau candidates, including Democrats Sen. Jesse Kiehl and Rep. Sara Hannan, are now unopposed. Thomas, now in his late 70s, is a former representative who served in the House from 2005 to 2013. He told friends and supporters that he just doesn’t have the time to campaign and also commercially fish this season. (Must Read Alaska 6/16/24) READ MORE>>>>> |
November 13, 2024: Donald Trump on Matt Gaetz
November 13, 2024: Lindsey Graham: He won the election, he deserves a chance to pick his cabinet. I am predisposed to allow him to do that. I think Matt Gaetz is very bright. I think he's qualified. |
Gaetz subpoenaed in friend’s lawsuit alleging defamation in sex trafficking investigation
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) received a subpoena to give a deposition in a defamation lawsuit filed by a friend who claims he was harmed by a Department of Justice investigation into allegations that Gaetz had sex with a minor.
Gaetz is neither a plaintiff nor a defendant in the lawsuit filed by former Florida state lawmaker Chris Dorworth, but he could be asked questions under oath about the alleged sexual relationship with the unidentified woman.
(Washington Examiner 3/14/24) READ MORE>>>>>
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) received a subpoena to give a deposition in a defamation lawsuit filed by a friend who claims he was harmed by a Department of Justice investigation into allegations that Gaetz had sex with a minor.
Gaetz is neither a plaintiff nor a defendant in the lawsuit filed by former Florida state lawmaker Chris Dorworth, but he could be asked questions under oath about the alleged sexual relationship with the unidentified woman.
(Washington Examiner 3/14/24) READ MORE>>>>>
Jan 14, 2023: PrescottENews: Opinion: How Chip Roy won the speaker fight – Rich Lowry
For many, including me, the seriousness of purpose behind the Republican revolt against McCarthy was obscured by the inability of many of the dissidents to articulate an endgame or come up with an alternative candidate for speaker. The prominent role of the likes of Matt Gaetz and Lauren Boebert, who enjoy pyrotechnics for the sake of them, was also inevitably discrediting.
For many, including me, the seriousness of purpose behind the Republican revolt against McCarthy was obscured by the inability of many of the dissidents to articulate an endgame or come up with an alternative candidate for speaker. The prominent role of the likes of Matt Gaetz and Lauren Boebert, who enjoy pyrotechnics for the sake of them, was also inevitably discrediting.
Zorek Richards
January 1, 2023:
Gas-stoveghazi is a another right wing issue for them to manufacture rage about. No one is out to take anyones gas stoves. Same with Hillarys email-ghazi and Hunter Bidens Laptop-ghazi....not to forget the original Benghazi-ghazi. There's no there there on any of these right-wing rage points. The only intellectual way to pursue it is to not pursue it. But we now have a benchmark rule: If Boebert, Gaetz, MJ Greene, Tuckkker Carlson or Ted Cruz are on the rage manufacturing trail...then you know whatever the issue it is more than likely not a real issue.
Gas-stoveghazi is a another right wing issue for them to manufacture rage about. No one is out to take anyones gas stoves. Same with Hillarys email-ghazi and Hunter Bidens Laptop-ghazi....not to forget the original Benghazi-ghazi. There's no there there on any of these right-wing rage points. The only intellectual way to pursue it is to not pursue it. But we now have a benchmark rule: If Boebert, Gaetz, MJ Greene, Tuckkker Carlson or Ted Cruz are on the rage manufacturing trail...then you know whatever the issue it is more than likely not a real issue.
Jan 9, 2023: After McCarthy's deal to become speaker, House GOP takes up new rules. “I look forward to working closely with [McCarthy]. But he did agree, to his great credit, to democratize power to the membership,” Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., told Fox News on Sunday.
Twitter · Aug 12, 2023
2022
May 4, 2022: Gaetz is under investigation for allegedly paying women for sex and, separately, sleeping with a minor and transporting her across state lines. Gaetz, denies all this, in addition to a report from The New York Times that cited receipts showing that he and his “wingman,” Joel Greenberg, made online payments to one woman, Greenberg paid a second woman, and both women told their friends the money was for sex with the men. (Greenberg, who entered a plea deal last year, “will continue to honor his obligations pursuant to that agreement,” his attorney said in August.)
July 23, 2022: Gaetz gave a speech at a Student Action Summit gathering in Tampa, Florida, in which he said that overweight or unattractive women were unlikely to become pregnant and mocked them for supporting abortion rights, saying, "They're like 5'2", 350 pounds, and they're like, 'Give me my abortions or I'll get up and march and protest.
July 26, 2022: Gaetz voted against the Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act, which passed 401–20.
July 27, 2022: After Matt Gaetz body chamed her, Olivia Julianna, 19, has raised more than $168,000 for abortion funds after being singled out on Twitter by the U.S. Congressman.
Aug 23, 2022: Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz won win his primary election. In spite of being under fire in the primary from veteran and former FedEx executive Mark Lombardo. Lombardo had questioned in attacks ads whether Gaetz was an “informant” who led the FBI to raid former President Donald Trump’s Palm Beach resort home Mar-a-Lago.
July 26, 2022: Gaetz voted against the Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act, which passed 401–20.
July 27, 2022: After Matt Gaetz body chamed her, Olivia Julianna, 19, has raised more than $168,000 for abortion funds after being singled out on Twitter by the U.S. Congressman.
Aug 23, 2022: Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz won win his primary election. In spite of being under fire in the primary from veteran and former FedEx executive Mark Lombardo. Lombardo had questioned in attacks ads whether Gaetz was an “informant” who led the FBI to raid former President Donald Trump’s Palm Beach resort home Mar-a-Lago.
Vice: Gab Founder Andrew Torba Wants to Build a Christian Nationalist Internet
Arizona state sen. Wendy Rogers and Arizona state rep. Mark Finchem (who is running for secretary of state) touted their endorsements from Torba earlier this summer—Rogers even declared herself part of the “#GabCaucus.” Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano was forced to disavow Torba following reports that he’d paid the Gab CEO thousands of dollars as a consultant. U.S. Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Paul Gosar and Matt Gaetz all maintain Gab accounts. Greene, who has identified herself as a Christian nationalist, previously paid at least nearly $40,000 in marketing costs to Gab. .9.29.22
Arizona state sen. Wendy Rogers and Arizona state rep. Mark Finchem (who is running for secretary of state) touted their endorsements from Torba earlier this summer—Rogers even declared herself part of the “#GabCaucus.” Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano was forced to disavow Torba following reports that he’d paid the Gab CEO thousands of dollars as a consultant. U.S. Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Paul Gosar and Matt Gaetz all maintain Gab accounts. Greene, who has identified herself as a Christian nationalist, previously paid at least nearly $40,000 in marketing costs to Gab. .9.29.22
2021
January 6, 2021: Joel Valdez, a senior communications aide to Gaetz, posted a video on Parler hours before the storming of the Capitol with the caption "From the top of the Capitol office buildings, WE HEAR YOU LOUD AND CLEAR! #StopTheSteal".
January 7, 2021: After a pro-Trump mob attacked the Capitol, Gaetz falsely said there was "pretty compelling evidence from a facial recognition company showing that some of the people who breached the Capitol today were not Trump supporters" but were rather "masquerading as Trump supporters, and in fact were members of the violent terrorist group antifa".
January 10, 2021: House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy complained on a phone call that Gaetz was unnecessarily "putting people in jeopardy", noting that the rioters at the U.S. Capitol on January 6 "came prepared with rope".
January 28, 2021: Gaetz spoke at the Wyoming State Capitol. He was there to preach against Rep. Liz Cheney’s decision to vote to impeach former President Donald.
March 30, 2021: Axios reported that Gaetz was "seriously considering not seeking re-election and possibly leaving Congress early for a job at Newsmax"
March 30, 2021: Denying any sexual relationships with minors, Gaetz said that he did not plan to resign from the House.
March 30, 2021: Gaetz tweeted that he and his family were "victims of an organized criminal extortion involving a former DOJ official seeking $25 million".
March 30, 2021: Tucker Carlson interviewed Gaetz on Fox News. In addition to denying the allegations about his relationship with a 17-year-old girl, Gaetz denied a previously unreported claim that he had been photographed "with child prostitutes", and said that a friend of his (whom Carlson had supposedly met) had been urged by the FBI to claim Gaetz was "involved in some pay-for-play scheme". He also argued that "Providing for flights and hotel rooms for people that you're dating who are of legal age is not a crime."
March 31, 2021: House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said he had no plans to remove Gaetz from his seats on the Judiciary and Armed Services Committees, but that he might change his mind if Gaetz "gets indicted".
April 1, 2021: CNN reported that Gaetz had shown pictures of naked women to colleagues on the House floor. Gaetz had allegedly claimed to have slept with the women in the photos.
April 2, 2021: Gaetz communications director, Luke Ball, and his legislative director, Devin Murphy, resigned. Both had begun working for Gaetz when he joined Congress in 2017
April 6, 2021: The New York Times reported that during the final weeks of Trump's presidency, Gaetz privately asked the White House for a blanket pardon for himself and some unknown congressional allies for any crimes they may have committed.
April 7, 2021: Trump denied that Gaetz had asked him for a pardon and noted that Gaetz "totally denied the accusations against him".
April 8, 2021: It was revealed that Trump had reportedly wanted to defend Gaetz, but that his advisors talked him out of it due to the seriousness of the allegations.
April 8, 2021: Gaetz's congressional office released a statement purportedly from his female employees vouching for his character, stating they "uniformly reject these allegations as false".
April 9, 2021: The House Ethics Committee opened an investigation into allegations that Gaetz "may have engaged in sexual misconduct and/or illicit drug use, shared inappropriate images or videos on the House floor, misused state identification records, converted campaign funds to personal use, and/or accepted a bribe, improper gratuity, or impermissible gift"
May 7, 2021: Gaetz was with Marjorie Taylor Greene in The Villages, Florida as part of a nationwide "America First Tour"
June 10, 2021: After a contentious House committee hearing, Gaetz claimed a Chinese whistleblower possessed text messages and documents concerning COVID-19's origins that U.S government investigators had failed to pursue.
June 23, 2021: Gaetz tweeted that the FBI should be defunded while it is investigating him for alleged sex trafficking and having sex with a minor. He wrote, "If Democrats want to defund the police, they should start with the FBI."
July 31, 2021: Gaetz said of COVID-19 variants that "next it'll be the Chi Omega variant or the Pi Kappa Psi variant. I got the Florida variant. I got the freedom variant. It affects the brain. It gets you to think for yourself where you don't just surrender to the truth that they're trying to create in corrupt big media."
August 21, 2021: Matt Gaetz eloped to Southern California, marrying his girlfriend Ginger Luckey on Saturday in a small ceremony on Catalina Island.
Nov 25, 2021: Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) has a podcast, called Firebrand. He was joined by fellow pro-Trump stalwart Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), who weighed in on the growing battle within the Republican Party — suggesting that House Minority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) “doesn’t have the votes” to become speaker if the GOP flips the House in 2022.
January 7, 2021: After a pro-Trump mob attacked the Capitol, Gaetz falsely said there was "pretty compelling evidence from a facial recognition company showing that some of the people who breached the Capitol today were not Trump supporters" but were rather "masquerading as Trump supporters, and in fact were members of the violent terrorist group antifa".
January 10, 2021: House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy complained on a phone call that Gaetz was unnecessarily "putting people in jeopardy", noting that the rioters at the U.S. Capitol on January 6 "came prepared with rope".
January 28, 2021: Gaetz spoke at the Wyoming State Capitol. He was there to preach against Rep. Liz Cheney’s decision to vote to impeach former President Donald.
March 30, 2021: Axios reported that Gaetz was "seriously considering not seeking re-election and possibly leaving Congress early for a job at Newsmax"
March 30, 2021: Denying any sexual relationships with minors, Gaetz said that he did not plan to resign from the House.
March 30, 2021: Gaetz tweeted that he and his family were "victims of an organized criminal extortion involving a former DOJ official seeking $25 million".
March 30, 2021: Tucker Carlson interviewed Gaetz on Fox News. In addition to denying the allegations about his relationship with a 17-year-old girl, Gaetz denied a previously unreported claim that he had been photographed "with child prostitutes", and said that a friend of his (whom Carlson had supposedly met) had been urged by the FBI to claim Gaetz was "involved in some pay-for-play scheme". He also argued that "Providing for flights and hotel rooms for people that you're dating who are of legal age is not a crime."
March 31, 2021: House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said he had no plans to remove Gaetz from his seats on the Judiciary and Armed Services Committees, but that he might change his mind if Gaetz "gets indicted".
April 1, 2021: CNN reported that Gaetz had shown pictures of naked women to colleagues on the House floor. Gaetz had allegedly claimed to have slept with the women in the photos.
April 2, 2021: Gaetz communications director, Luke Ball, and his legislative director, Devin Murphy, resigned. Both had begun working for Gaetz when he joined Congress in 2017
April 6, 2021: The New York Times reported that during the final weeks of Trump's presidency, Gaetz privately asked the White House for a blanket pardon for himself and some unknown congressional allies for any crimes they may have committed.
April 7, 2021: Trump denied that Gaetz had asked him for a pardon and noted that Gaetz "totally denied the accusations against him".
April 8, 2021: It was revealed that Trump had reportedly wanted to defend Gaetz, but that his advisors talked him out of it due to the seriousness of the allegations.
April 8, 2021: Gaetz's congressional office released a statement purportedly from his female employees vouching for his character, stating they "uniformly reject these allegations as false".
April 9, 2021: The House Ethics Committee opened an investigation into allegations that Gaetz "may have engaged in sexual misconduct and/or illicit drug use, shared inappropriate images or videos on the House floor, misused state identification records, converted campaign funds to personal use, and/or accepted a bribe, improper gratuity, or impermissible gift"
May 7, 2021: Gaetz was with Marjorie Taylor Greene in The Villages, Florida as part of a nationwide "America First Tour"
June 10, 2021: After a contentious House committee hearing, Gaetz claimed a Chinese whistleblower possessed text messages and documents concerning COVID-19's origins that U.S government investigators had failed to pursue.
June 23, 2021: Gaetz tweeted that the FBI should be defunded while it is investigating him for alleged sex trafficking and having sex with a minor. He wrote, "If Democrats want to defund the police, they should start with the FBI."
July 31, 2021: Gaetz said of COVID-19 variants that "next it'll be the Chi Omega variant or the Pi Kappa Psi variant. I got the Florida variant. I got the freedom variant. It affects the brain. It gets you to think for yourself where you don't just surrender to the truth that they're trying to create in corrupt big media."
August 21, 2021: Matt Gaetz eloped to Southern California, marrying his girlfriend Ginger Luckey on Saturday in a small ceremony on Catalina Island.
Nov 25, 2021: Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) has a podcast, called Firebrand. He was joined by fellow pro-Trump stalwart Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), who weighed in on the growing battle within the Republican Party — suggesting that House Minority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) “doesn’t have the votes” to become speaker if the GOP flips the House in 2022.
2020
March 9, 2020: Gaetz's office reported that he had been in contact with a Conservative Political Action Conference attendee who tested positive for COVID-19. As a result, Gaetz was placed under self-quarantine for 14 days.
March 10, 2020: Gaetz said his test was negative, but that he would stay under self-quarantine until the 14-day period ended on March 12.
April 14, 2020: Gaetz said the Wuhan Institute of Virology "birthed a monster", a reference to the theory that COVID-19 was leaked out of a Chinese research lab.
June 1, 2020: During the nationwide George Floyd protests, Gaetz tweeted, "Now that we clearly see antifa as terrorists, can we hunt them down like we do those in the Middle East?" In response, Twitter hid the tweet and labeled it as "[violating] the Twitter Rules about glorifying violence". Gaetz called the label a "badge of honor", accused Twitter of enabling Antifa, and again said that "our government should hunt [Antifa] down".
July 1, 2020: The Office of Congressional Ethics notified Gaetz it had terminated its review of the lease arrangements that claimed he spent nearly $200,000 of taxpayer funds renting an office from Collier Merrill, a Pensacola real estate developer.
August 26, 2020: Gaetz tweeted: "The mob wants to destroy America. We need PATRIOTS who will defend her"
December 4, 2020: Gaetz attended an indoor New York Young Republicans Club conference in Jersey City, New Jersey, during a period of surging COVID-19 cases throughout the state and the country. He was seen posing for photos in a crowd of unmasked attendees, prompting New Jersey governor Phil Murphy and Jersey City mayor Steven Fulop to publicly condemn him.
March 10, 2020: Gaetz said his test was negative, but that he would stay under self-quarantine until the 14-day period ended on March 12.
April 14, 2020: Gaetz said the Wuhan Institute of Virology "birthed a monster", a reference to the theory that COVID-19 was leaked out of a Chinese research lab.
June 1, 2020: During the nationwide George Floyd protests, Gaetz tweeted, "Now that we clearly see antifa as terrorists, can we hunt them down like we do those in the Middle East?" In response, Twitter hid the tweet and labeled it as "[violating] the Twitter Rules about glorifying violence". Gaetz called the label a "badge of honor", accused Twitter of enabling Antifa, and again said that "our government should hunt [Antifa] down".
July 1, 2020: The Office of Congressional Ethics notified Gaetz it had terminated its review of the lease arrangements that claimed he spent nearly $200,000 of taxpayer funds renting an office from Collier Merrill, a Pensacola real estate developer.
August 26, 2020: Gaetz tweeted: "The mob wants to destroy America. We need PATRIOTS who will defend her"
December 4, 2020: Gaetz attended an indoor New York Young Republicans Club conference in Jersey City, New Jersey, during a period of surging COVID-19 cases throughout the state and the country. He was seen posing for photos in a crowd of unmasked attendees, prompting New Jersey governor Phil Murphy and Jersey City mayor Steven Fulop to publicly condemn him.
2019
February 26, 2019: The night before the scheduled public hearing of Michael Cohen, Trump's former personal attorney, before the House Oversight Committee, Gaetz directed a tweet to Cohen that implied without evidence that Cohen had had multiple extramarital affairs and also suggested his wife might be unfaithful while he was imprisoned due to new information disclosed to her.
July 24, 2019: Gaetz told Mueller "If Russians were lying to Christopher Steele to undermine our confidence in our newly elected president, that would be precisely in your purview because you stated in your opening that the organizing principle was to fully and thoroughly investigate Russian interference. But you weren't interested in whether the Russians interfered through Steele—and if Steele was lying, then you should have charged him with lying like you charged a variety of other people."
July 24, 2019: Gaetz told Mueller "If Russians were lying to Christopher Steele to undermine our confidence in our newly elected president, that would be precisely in your purview because you stated in your opening that the organizing principle was to fully and thoroughly investigate Russian interference. But you weren't interested in whether the Russians interfered through Steele—and if Steele was lying, then you should have charged him with lying like you charged a variety of other people."
2018
February 27, 2018: Gaetz voted against the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act, which had by then been combined with the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act. It passed, 388–25.
2017
January 3, 2017: Matt Gaetz is sworn in as a Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Florida's 1st district.
February 23, 2017: Worried about protesters disrupting his appearance at his town hall in Pace, Florida, Gaetz prepared what his staffers called a nonverbal town hall. He printed out part of his speech onto giant boards that he would hold up if he was unable to speak.
December 19, 2017: Gaetz was the only representative to vote against the Combating Human Trafficking in Commercial Vehicles Act, a bill allocating additional government resources to help combat human trafficking
from Florida's 1st district.
February 23, 2017: Worried about protesters disrupting his appearance at his town hall in Pace, Florida, Gaetz prepared what his staffers called a nonverbal town hall. He printed out part of his speech onto giant boards that he would hold up if he was unable to speak.
December 19, 2017: Gaetz was the only representative to vote against the Combating Human Trafficking in Commercial Vehicles Act, a bill allocating additional government resources to help combat human trafficking
March 21, 2016: Gaetz withdrew from the race, choosing instead to run for the U.S. House seat representing Florida's 1st congressional district.
August 30, 2016: Gaetz won the Republican primary with 35.7 percent of the vote to Greg Evers's 21.5 percent and Cris Dosev's 20.6 percent, along with five other candidates.
September 25, 2016: Following the death of Miami Marlins pitcher José Fernández, Gaetz criticized the athletes protesting during the national anthem in a tweet.
August 30, 2016: Gaetz won the Republican primary with 35.7 percent of the vote to Greg Evers's 21.5 percent and Cris Dosev's 20.6 percent, along with five other candidates.
September 25, 2016: Following the death of Miami Marlins pitcher José Fernández, Gaetz criticized the athletes protesting during the national anthem in a tweet.
April 13, 2010: Gaetz is sworn in as a Member of the Florida House of Representatives
from the 4th district.
from the 4th district.
The primary difference between intelligence and stupidity is that there are limits to intelligence.