Newsmax tried but failed to hype Matt Gaetz’s nomination as attorney general, but there was too much sleazy scandal in the way — and a Newsmax columnist embarrassed himself in trying to defend Gaetz on the day he was forced to withdraw. Still, there was still some residual work on Gaetz for Newsmax to push. The apparently unironically named Charile McCarthy wrote in a Dec. 18 article:
Matt Gaetz says some of his past behavior was “embarrassing, though not criminal,” after it was reported the House Ethics Committee plans to release its findings about the former congressman.
CNN reported Wednesday that the ethics committee voted to release its report on Gaetz and that the panel’s findings could be made public within days, as Congress prepares to adjourn for the holidays.
The committee’s probe centered on allegations against Gaetz of sexual misconduct with a teenage girl and drug use.
[…]Gaetz ended his X post by saying he lives “a different life now” and blasted lawmakers for considering a continuing resolution to fund the government for three months.
“It’s embarrassing, though not criminal, that I probably partied, womanized, drank, and smoked more than I should have earlier in life. I live a different life now.”
“But at least I didn’t vote for CRs that f**k over the country!”
McCarthy followed up in a Dec. 23 article:
Former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., on Monday filed a suit seeking a temporary restraining order to prevent the House Ethics Committee from releasing a report concerning his past personal behavior.
Gaetz’s suit, filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., comes following alleged media leaks of the committee’s findings, which reportedly includes House rules violations and illegal actions.
The former lawmaker claims the committee does not have authority to release its report because it has no jurisdiction over him since he has resigned from Congress. Gaetz’s lawyers said the report contains “untruthful and defamatory information” that would “significantly damage” his reputation, The Hill reported.
That ended up being too little, too late on Gaetz’s part because the committee released the report as he was issuing that press release; he had hoped that quitting Congress after he was first nominated would stop its release. It found, among other things, that Gaetz “paid tens of thousands of dollars to women for sex or drugs on at least 20 occasions, including paying a 17-year-old girl for sex in 2017.”
Newsmax published only a wire article about the report’s release. Later that day, an article by Jeffrey Frankel reported that Gaetz “dropped his lawsuit that sought to block the release of his House Ethics Committee report since the committee made it public on Monday.” Newsmax still wanted to help him perform cleanup, however, with a Dec. 26 article by Sam Barron:
Former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., took to social media Wednesday to continue his offensive against a House Ethics Report about him that was released this week.
The House Ethics Committee accused Gaetz of “regularly” paying for sex, including once with a 17-year-old girl, and purchasing and using illicit drugs as a member of Congress, as lawmakers released the conclusions of a nearly four-year investigation that helped sink his nomination for attorney general.
Gaetz resigned from Congress after Trump nominated him to be attorney general. He withdrew his name after he faced an uphill battle to be confirmed.
The 37-page report by the bipartisan panel includes explicit details of sex-filled parties and vacations that Gaetz, 42, took part in from 2017 to 2020 while the Republican represented Florida’s western Panhandle.
Gaetz said the “prostitutes” testified there was never an agreement to exchange sex for money and that the 17-year-old said he was at party when community gate logs showed otherwise.
“The alleged ‘minor victim’ abandoned similar allegations against my friend in a civil lawsuit when confronted with her inconsistent statements,” Gaetz wrote. “The alleged ‘minor victim’ tried unsuccessfully to shake me down for money.
Barron didn’t quote anyone responding to Gaetz’s claims.
Newsmax also served up a career-rehab shot with a Dec. 24 article by Sandy Fitzgerald:
Former Rep. Matt Gaetz has a future in Florida politics, despite the release of an explicit Ethics Committee report accusing him of drug use and paying for sex, Evan Power, the chair of the Florida Republican Party, told Newsmax on Tuesday.
But, Power told Newsmax’s “Wake Up America” that he does not think Gaetz will seek an appointment to replace Sen. Marco Rubio, the Florida Republican who has been nominated as secretary of state.
“I think Americans love a second act,” Power said. “I think he can overcome. He should double down and take his fight to the American people and explain, you know, why they released it, why they’re taking him on.”
If he does that and “can tell the story of what happened and how he’s changed, he’s married the love of his life, apparently, and has moved on, he can have a second act,” he added. “He is one of the most popular politicians in Florida to this day … he speaks out and fights hard.”
Given how pretty much everyone hates Gaetz, that might be a tall order.
And that wasn’t all. Tamar Alexia Fleischman spent a Dec. 27 column to claim that those pointing out Gaetz’s scandals are the real issue:
Much like the Biblical Salome’s Dance of the 7 Veils before King Herod Antipas, resulting in the unspeakable beheading of John the Baptist, we’ve been hearing about alleged improprieties regarding Fmr. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., for a long time.
Ever since he led the charge to successfully topple then-House Speaker Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., he’s faced political enemies relentlessly.
No matter that McCarthy is now in the rear-view window, the vengeance is still real.
It doesn’t matter whether the allegations are true or not, to my way of thinking.
[…]If the allegations which we lodged against Gaetz are wholly or even partially false, it will be a shame and a loss for the MAGA (Make America Great Again) movement if he’s forced retire his legislative talent in podcasting.
I’m certain this moment has been a personal strain for him and his family.
I saw this happen with my beloved late father.
[…]I don’t let other people pick my friends and the people I admire.
Neither should you.
Matt Gaetz has an important voice and an unparallel strength, machismo.
Who would you want defending your honor and interests in court: Gaetz or current U.S. House Speaker Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La.?
Some people may think it inappropriate to compartmentalize like I do.
But we must focus on what this country needs now.
But the country has decided we don’t need Gaetz in a position of power, which Fleischman apparently can’t handle. Too dazzed by that alleged “machismo,” apparently.
Newmsax still wasn’t done: A Dec. 30 article by Sam Barron touted how Gaetz “said that after President-elect Donald Trump’s endorsement of embattled House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., resistance ‘is now futile.'”