Most Republicans are not condemning Gaetz.
They have been happy to avoid a decision day since Gaetz is one of the most vocal defenders of Donald Trump.
Gaetz's ex-girlfriend testified before a federal grand jury. She could be a key witness in the Justice Department probe into whether the Gaetz violated federal sex-trafficking laws. The Daily Beast reported this week that a potential witness in the case has pleaded guilty in federal court and is cooperating with the Gaetz investigation.
The Daily Beast has learned that Big Joe, a former Florida shock jock, has pleaded guilty in federal court.
Gaetz has staying power because he still embodies the ideals of Trump, according to a Republican political strategist. Trump, too, faced accusations of sexual assault but still won the presidency, and is angling toward another run in 2024 while serving as the Republican Party's defacto leader.
If you deny that, a question arises as to whether you are still part of that movement.
GOP leaders will not distance themselves from Gaetz until he is formally charged or brought into court.
Republicans are aware of their chance to win big in the upcoming elections and control both the House and Senate. If they speak out against Gaetz, it will make it harder to project unity and win congressional majorities that will allow them to stall President Joe Biden's agenda.
GOP leaders have not called on Gaetz to step down.
Kevin McCarthy, who is expected to be the next Speaker of the House if Republicans gain a majority, said in April 2020 that those things would happen only if the accusations against Gaetz were true.
McCarthy's office didn't respond to questions about whether leadership still stood by that position. Other GOP leadership offices ignored questions about what might cause Republican leaders to discipline Gaetz or ask him to resign, whether it be a bombshell interview, charges, an indictment, or a criminal conviction of some sort.
Gaetz has denied having sex with a minor, paying for sex, or obstructing justice. Stephen Alford, a Florida developer, tried to extort Gaetz's family over the matter. A judge is expected to sentence Greenberg in March after he pleaded guilty to several charges.
Gaetz won his congressional seat by more than 30 percentage points in the 2020 election. According to federal records, he had over a million dollars in his campaign account.
There are signs that the Department of Justice investigation is affecting Gaetz's ability to function as a congressman.
Insider previously reported that some Republicans who have never cared for Gaetz since he entered Congress have been privately snickering at him since his legal troubles began.
The Friends of Matt Gaetz campaign committee has received donations from other Republicans.
John Katko, a Republican from New York, donated $2,000 to a charity called In My Father's Kitchen in April, but later said he wouldn't seek reelection in 2022.
The records show that GOP Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and David Valadao of California gave money to organizations that help victims of domestic violence.
The offices of the lawmakers didn't reply to Insider's request for comment on why they didn't accept Gaetz donations.
As long as Republican leadership is standing behind Gaetz, he will be able to get political donations for his reelection campaign.
He said that you have to have something sweeping at the leadership level for it to have an impact.
Gaetz has become marginalized on the policy front. Gaetz has been a congressional leader on cannabis reform.
A group of House Republicans, led by Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina, introduced a bill to legalise cannabis.
Gaetz, who has long bucked his party to support legalization, was not on the list of sponsors. He helped convince the governor of Florida to lift the ban on smokable medical cannabis.
A cannabis-industry source who spoke on condition of anonymity cited the DOJ investigation as the reason for Gaetz's omission from the bill.
It has been more difficult for him to lead legislative efforts because of the issues.
It shows that even though Gaetz still has friends in Congress, his allies are not going out of their way to work with him.
Gaetz was asked if the Justice Department investigation was slowing down his work on Capitol Hill.
He said that he was talking to Mr. Cicilline about legislation.
David Cicilline, a Rhode Island Democrat, confirmed to Insider that Gaetz had approached him about an idea he had on antitrust legislation.
He has supported the antitrust package and has been a very active member of the antitrust subcommittee.
Cicilline did not know anything about the Justice Department investigation. He is currently a member of Congress. I interact with him in that way.
Gaetz says the same thing about his situation.
He said that he didn't know what he didn't know.
Gaetz has sponsored seven bills so far. The Washington, D.C. rule requiring businesses to show proof of vaccinations for customers is being canceled by the one with the largest number of co-sponsors. He has co-sponsored over 200 bills.
On Monday, Gaetz was one of 27 House members who signed a letter asking Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat of California, and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a Republican of California, to quickly consider legislation that would ban members of Congress from trading individual stocks.
Gaetz told Insider that he didn't recall if anyone asked him to co-sponsor the GOP cannabis bill. He pointed out that he was the only Republican co-sponsor of the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act, which was far more ambitious in its provisions.
The MORE Act was passed by the House in December of 2020 but not by the Senate, which is opposed to legalization.
According to Barbara Boland, Gaetz didn't ask to sign on to the GOP legislation. Mace told Forbes that she wanted to return a donation. She got into a spat with a close ally of Gaetz.
Gaetz's policy backlash hasn't reached the level faced by Sen. Sinema, a Democrat who was censured by the Arizona Democratic Party after she wouldn't support her party's political orthodoxy.
Sinema lost endorsements from abortion-rights groups.
Gaetz has been endorsed by the National Right to Life Committee for voting in favor of limits on the procedure.
Laura Echevarria told Insider that it was too early in the campaign season for endorsements. She said that the group's decision for any candidate would be based on his or her voting record on abortion.
Some House members have stayed in power despite their scandals. When the issues cross into the legal system, their colleagues can reach a breaking point.
Former House Speaker Paul Ryan pressured Farenthold to resign over a sexual-harassment case after he faced several sex scandals over the course of seven years.
The former congressman from Florida, who sent sexually explicit messages to congressional pages, resigned just days after accusers came out. Dennis Hastert told reporters he would have demanded the expulsion of Representative Mark Foley if he did not resign. He would serve prison time for molesting teenage boys.
Pelosi worked with the Congressional Black Caucus to get John Conyers to resign after he was accused of sexual harassment.
Democrats weren't immediately in lockstep on the issue. The second-in-command Democrat, then Minority Whip, said at the time that the investigation should be allowed to move forward but agreed that Conyers made the right move by stepping down from his role as ranking member.
The same outcry hasn't yet come from congressional Republicans.
Gaetz's defenders continue to stand by him, despite the fact that the investigation is affecting his work on Capitol Hill.
Jim Jordan of Ohio, the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, praised Gaetz for his contribution to the panel and his work riling up conservatives.
Jordan told Insider that the investigation hasn't changed his ability to talk to conservatives.
Jordan said he trusts Matt Gaetz.
Since last summer, Gaetz has been holding rallies to bash COVID restrictions and promote the idea that Trump won his reelection bid.
It doesn't look like there is anything there because no women have come out publicly.
She said that she doesn't think it's affecting him.
Matt is strong, according to Greene.
Even though he still has a stronghold on the GOP, Trump doesn't seem to have distanced himself from Gaetz. A photo shows Trump posing with Gaetz and his wife, as they rang in the New Year at Mar-a-Lago.
—Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) January 1, 2022
One former Justice Department official who spoke with Insider on condition of anonymity predicted that if Gaetz ends up getting charged with human trafficking, Trump would likely turn the charges against the Democrats.
The person said that Gaetz is almost as toxic as Marjorie Taylor Greene.
The most recent development on the case has been added to the story.
The original article is on Business Insider.
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