Certain members of the Freedom Caucus, including Gaetz, could contribute the required margin. Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. Mark Milley and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin responded to questions from Rep. Matt Gaetz about Critical Race Theory in a congressional testimony on June 23, 2021. [209], In October 2018, Gaetz falsely claimed that George Soros paid for a caravan of migrants from Central America to the United States. "[293], Gaetz has a 2020 book and a 2021 podcast, both titled Firebrand. Congressman Mike Waltz represents North Central Florida, is a Colonel in the National Guard, a combat-decorated Green Beret, former White House and Pentagon policy advisor, a small business owner, an author, and a proud father. [131][132], Gaetz said of then-U.S. attorney general Jeff Sessions that "over at the Department of Justice, he's got Stockholm syndrome, he's become sympathetic with his captors over there in the Deep State. [26], Gaetz was one of two members to vote against a Florida bill against revenge porn in 2015, after having successfully blocked the bill previously. [294][281] In the book, while discussing dating in Washington, he writes, "I knew going in how many people had been brought down by sexual missteps in this town, so I set some rules to help me err on the safe(r) side [including] no dating your staff members, [etc.]. [121][122][120] The Times also reported that aides had told Trump of the request. [182] The full title of the bill is "To prohibit Federal funds from being used to implement, administer, enforce, or carry out programs with respect to digital health passes, and for other purposes. But you weren't interested in whether the Russians interfered through Steeleand if Steele was lying, then you should have charged him with lying like you charged a variety of other people. [154][non-primary source needed][155], In January 2017, Gaetz proposed legislation to abolish the Environmental Protection Agency, claiming that it hurts small businesses via the costs associated with compliance. "[134], In October 2019, Gaetz organized a "storming" of a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility on Capitol Hill by about two dozen Republican congressmen, including House minority whip Steve Scalise, in an effort to sit in on and hear the deposition of a Pentagon official during the impeachment inquiry against Trump. ", "Matt Gaetz calls the ADL 'racist' after it again calls on Tucker Carlson to step down for promoting white supremacist conspiracy theory", "Here's the Tweet Matt Gaetz Tried to Delete About the FBI", "Rep. Matt Gaetz Tweets, Deletes Call to Defund FBI, the Agency Investigating Him", "Matt Gaetz tweeted that the FBI should be defunded, then deleted it. [23] He also joined state senator Greg Evers in proposing legislation to eliminate the federal ethanol content mandate that 10 percent of gasoline sold in Florida contain ethanol;[24][25] Governor Rick Scott signed the legislation in May 2013. [30], When his subcommittee was considering legislation that would keep suspects' mugshots off the Internet until their convictions, Gaetz brought up his 2008 arrest and non-conviction, arguing that his mistakes made him who he is and that publicly available mugshots "could be a problem for those unaccustomed to publicity". Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) walks with his fiance Ginger Luckey on Jan. 28, 2021, in Cheyenne, Wyoming . [229] Gaetz was reportedly joined by marijuana entrepreneur and hand surgeon Jason Pirozzolo, who allegedly paid trip accommodations, traveling expenses, and escort services. 77: Opposing the decision to end certain United States efforts to prevent Turkish military operations against Syrian Kurdish forces in Northeast Syria", "Bernie Sanders, Rand Paul, Ro Khanna, and a bipartisan group of lawmakers sent a letter to Trump imploring him to end US support for Saudi Arabia in Yemen", "Twitter Places Warning on Congressman's Tweet for Glorifying Violence", "Rep. Matt Gaetz on Twitter: "The mob wants to destroy America. [190] but the EcoHealth Alliance later admitted that under the grant it had enhanced a bat coronavirus so it became potentially more infectious to humans, which the NIH said was an "unexpected result" of the research it had funded that was carried out in partnership with the Wuhan Institute of Virology. "When I . 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.[1][2]. [259] McGee's law firm called Gaetz's allegation "completely, totally false" and defamatory,[249] telling The Daily Beast that Gaetz was attempting to distract from the sex trafficking investigation. [2] Gaetz was an early supporter of Donald Trump and his appeal to the Republican Party base, echoing his talking points. Meet Ginger Luckey, Matt Gaetz's fiance amid sex trafficking probe. I got the freedom variant. During the event, Rep. Gaetz nominated the following students to the U.S. [34], In 2013, Gaetz announced that, in 2016, he would run for the 1st district State Senate seat held by his father, Don Gaetz, who was term-limited in 2016. [9][10] Gaetz was admitted to the Florida Bar on February 6, 2008. A meme showing a mug shot of U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz suggests that the congressman has had "seven DUIs" and is responsible for the "suspicious" death of his college . [249] Gaetz and his father purportedly received communications claiming that the FBI had photographs of Gaetz engaged in a "sexual orgy with underage prostitutes". The Pentagon has identified the two U.S. Army Green Berets killed on Wednesday during combat operations in northern Afghanistan. [12], After graduating from William & Mary Law School,[13] Gaetz worked at the law firm Keefe, Anchors & Gordon (now AnchorsGordon)[14] in Fort Walton Beach. [282] Greenberg's sentencing hearing was originally scheduled for August 2021,[283] but due to his cooperation in related investigations, had been repeatedly delayed. [19] During his campaign, Gaetz received almost $480,000 in contributions, about five times more than anyone else in the field, and almost 50 times more than Fernald, including $100,000 of his own money. [95], In a September 2022 episode of Steve Bannon's War Room podcast, Gaetz said that Republicans should prioritize "impeachment inquiries" against Democrats "to investigate them and to hold them accountable" if Republicans won the 2022 U.S. House of Representatives elections. [62] Other members of Congress saw the tweet as an attempt to intimidate a witness. South Carolina's senior U.S. senator, Lindsey Graham, admonished the House members, calling them "nuts" for having made a "run on the SCIF. [35] On March 21, 2016, Gaetz withdrew from the race, choosing instead to run for the U.S. House seat representing Florida's 1st congressional district; the incumbent, Jeff Miller, had announced 11 days earlier that he would not seek reelection.[36]. [299][300] They married in August 2021.[301]. [287] (A year later, her attorney said that Justice Department prosecutors made the right decision not to charge Gaetz because "they didnt have evidence to prove a crime". [185] Several journalists characterized the decision as a stunt. Earlier, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin smacked down Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., after he asserted that an Austin advisor is a "critical race theorist," and that his sources told him Austin's. "[216] Gaetz later deleted the tweet. [228] According to CNN, a person briefed on the matter said investigators also examined whether Gaetz used campaign money in his relationships with young women for travel and expenses and whether cash and drugs were involved. [107] Gaetz has introduced the STATES Act to prevent federal interference in states that have legalized cannabis for medical or recreational purposes. [83] In response, the Campaign for Accountability, an ethics watchdog group, filed a complaint with the House Committee on Ethics and requested an investigation into Gaetz and the other lawmakers. "[138][139] House Homeland Security Committee chairman Bennie Thompson of Mississippi wrote to the House sergeant-at-arms about Gaetz and others, requesting that he take action regarding their "unprecedented breach of security". [191][192], After Politico reported on November 7 that Gaetz had tested positive for COVID-19, he texted Politico "I have tested positive for antibodies" and "I have no live virus". He then said this meant allowing Americans "the ability to maintain an armed rebellion against the government if that becomes necessary. [252][253] The sender was later identified as Florida developer Stephen Alford, who was arrested on August 31. 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". [174] In lobbying for the bill, he said that the open carry of weapons was a right "granted not by government but by God. [47], Gaetz attended political rallies alongside members of the Proud Boys in 2018 and 2020. [148] He expressed the belief that many Republicans in Congress were hesitant to impeach Biden, but that Republican voters would feel "betrayed" if they did not. "[175] Gaetz supports Florida's stand-your-ground law and supported legislation that strengthened it against legal challenges. [181] PolitiFact rated the claim "mostly false", noting that "experts were universal in saying that the evidence that Medicaid expansion is somehow fueling the opioid crisis doesn't exist."[181]. [164], In April 2019, after the House passed a resolution withdrawing American support for the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen, Gaetz was one of nine lawmakers to sign a letter to Trump requesting a meeting with him and urging him to sign Senate Joint Resolution 7, which invokes the War Powers Act of 1973, to end unauthorized US military participation in the Saudi-led coalition's armed conflict against Houthi forces in Yemen. "[294], In June 2020, following an argument with then-Representative Cedric Richmond, Gaetz said he had been living with a 19-year-old immigrant from Cuba, Nestor Galbn, since Galbn was 12, and considered Galbn his son. Gaetz and other GOP members mocked Democrats and their COVID-19 regulations on social media. Gaetz, who represents a large swath of Florida's panhandle, has tried to distance himself from Greenberg, despite an avalanche of evidence that the pair were close. 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