Beleagured Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), who is desperately casting about for explanations and excuses for why he might be the target of a federal sex trafficking investigation, came up with a new one Saturday. He now claims to be a victim of the imaginary \u201cDeep State.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI may be a canceled man in some corners,\u201d began his tweet. \u201cI may even be a wanted man by the Deep State,\u201d Gaetz added. \u201cBut I hear the millions of Americans who feel forgotten, canceled, ignored, marginalized and targeted.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s difficult to imagine there are \u201cmillions of Americans\u201d in Gaetz\u2019s position just now.<\/p>\n
Gaetz is currently under investigation by the Justice Department (in a probe that begun during the Trump administration) for allegedly having sex with a 17-year-old girl and paying for her \u2015 and other young women \u2015 to travel across state lines for sex. Federal investigators are reportedly looking into whether Gaetz used any federal campaign money to make the alleged payments, some of which were reportedly made via Venmo, which produced records.<\/p>\n
Gaetz is also under investigation by the House Ethics Committee.<\/p>\n
The committee said in a statement that it was checking into \u201cpublic allegations\u201d that Gaetz may have \u201cengaged 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, in violation of House Rules, laws, or other standards of conduct.\u201d<\/p>\n
The FBI is also examining a \u201cparty plane\u201d trip to the Bahamas and female escorts for Gaetz funded by a Florida cannabis entrepreneur in late 2018 or early 2019, several sources told The New York Times. The trip included Gaetz pal and former Florida county tax collector Joel Greenberg, who has been charged with sex trafficking and other crimes, and is reportedly working out a plea deal and cooperating with federal prosecutors.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sure Matt Gaetz is not feeling very comfortable today,\u201d Greenberg\u2019s lawyer, Fritz Scheller, told reporters outside the federal courthouse in Orlando Friday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Florida lawmaker has denied all wrongdoing.<\/p>\n
What to say Gaetz\u2019s tweet that he\u2019s just a victim of the Deep State? Critics on Twitter had a few ideas.<\/p>\n