All posts tagged "matt gaetz"

MAGA Republicans take unlikely stance in rebellion against House bill: columnist

MAGA Republicans led by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) took a surprising turn as they denounced a House bill meant to protect Trump ally Benjamin Netanyahu's Israel from boycotts.

The bipartisan bill, HR 867, "would have amended the Anti-Boycott Act of 2018 by criminalizing compliance with boycotts called for by international government organizations, such as the United Nations — with potential penalties including prison time," according to a new article on MSNBC.com.

"A vote on the bill had been set for Monday, but it was canceled by House GOP leadership after Greene and other MAGA Republicans — including Rep. Anna Paulina Luna and former Rep. Matt Gaetz, both of Florida — denounced it," wrote MSNBC opinion writer Ja'han Jones.

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Greene posted to X her reason for opposing the bill: "It is my job to defend American’s rights to buy or boycott whomever they choose without the government harshly fining them or imprisoning them."

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) wrote that he agreed with Greene and would also vote 'no' on the bill.

After word came down that the bill was being pulled from consideration, Massie wrote, "Apparently HR 867 has been pulled from the schedule for this week. Thank you for your vocal opposition on this platform. It was a ridiculous bill that our leadership should have never scheduled for a vote."

Jones cited a recent Pew Research survey that found "53% of Americans hold negative views of Israel — up from 42% about three years ago," before the Hamas attack of Oct. 7, 2023 and Israel's retaliation that has decimated Gaza.

In addition, Americans' opinion of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also remains low at 32%, according to the survey conducted in March.

Jones concluded, "With that broadening discontent in mind, along with uncertainty over its passage, it’s easy to understand why the House bill was pulled."

Read the MSNBC article here.

'Orwellian tactics': Senate chair Grassley smears Jack Smith to open Bondi hearing

Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IO) used his opening statements during Pam Bondi's attorney general confirmation hearing, to air his grievances against the Biden Justice Department in general, and Special Counsel Jack Smith in particular.

Grassley introduced Bondi and spoke of her accomplishments as Florida's attorney general before launching into his attack.

"I know, as other people on this committee and in and out of Congress know, what government weaponization is. And then we get to Special Counsel Jack Smith and his 'lawfare' operation. It involved an unprecedented FBI raid on Trump's house, including agents that even searched the former first lady's clothing drawers. Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden certainly did not receive the same treatment by government regarding their records."

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"Indeed, as my oversight exposed, the FBI amazingly agreed to destroy laptop records associated with Clinton's staff. This Orwellian conduct should have no quarter. On top of it all, the FBI Special Agent Thibault, the anti-Trump agent that violated the Hatch Act for political activities on the job, started one of Jack Smith's cases.

Grassley then blamed the Biden DOJ for trying to influence the 2024 presidential election.

"But Jack Smith wasn't the only department official who tried to influence this past election. The Washington Post reported just last August about a previously undisclosed Mueller investigation into Trump that was closed for lack of evidence and it being, quote, unquote, a 'fishing expedition.' That news reporting was based on sealed court records, government records, and potentially classified information roughly 90 days before the last presidential election. The Justice Department leaked that information to the press to impact the election against President Trump. And they did it while stiff-arming congressional requests for information that would prove embarrassing to the Biden-Harris administration. So, let us not forget some of the more and other flagrant abuses of power that we've seen from the DOJ."

Bondi became President-elect Donald Trump's choice for AG after former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) withdrew due to backlash over ethical concerns that included drug use and paying for sex as a U.S. congressman.

Watch the clip below via CNN or click the link.

'I'm, uh –– yeah': GOP's Emmer ignores Trump's attacks on him during ABC interview

Majority Whip Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN) graciously declared that he and President-elect Donald Trump were on "very good terms" after ABC's Jonathan Karl confronted him with a nasty quote about being a Republican In Name Only, or RINO.

"So, let me ask you, your relationship with Trump," Karl began on Sunday's This Week with George Stephanopoulos. "I remember when Kevin McCarthy was ousted as speaker, you were nominated to replace him, and Donald Trump — you probably remember this, but let me remind you just in case — posted on Truth Social, 'I have many wonderful friends wanting to be Speaker of the House and some are truly great warriors. RINO Tom Emmer, who I do not know well, is not one of them...He is totally out-of-touch with Republican voters...' Now, to be fair, that was more than a year ago. I assume you've gotten to know Trump a little bit better?"

Emmer responded, "The president and I are on very good terms. I'm, uh — yeah. The president has been wonderful to me, been wonderful to my wife, has done everything that he could to campaign in Minnesota. He's been amazing, and yeah, we're going to do some good work together. But it's Donald J. Trump's agenda. My job is to make sure that we execute."

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"And what are those interactions like?" Karl pressed, causing Emmer to laugh out loud.

"He's a very blunt and honest human being," Emmer answered.

Emmer was one of a handful of representatives vying to become Speaker of the House after former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) staged a rebellion against Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA). Emmer became the party's third pick for the leadership role, behind Steve Scalise (R-LA) and Jim Jordan (R-OH), following a series of secret internal ballots in Oct. 2023.

Trump joined 20 other lawmakers in denouncing Emmer at the time, forcing the Minnesota Republican to drop out of contention.

Emmer's demise was due to his failure to agree with MAGA issues like declaring the 2020 presidential election was rigged, which it was not.

Republicans also nominated Byron Donalds (R-FL), Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN), Mark Green (R-TN), Kevin Hern (R-OK), Mike Johnson (R-LA), and Roger Williams (TX). The speakership finally went to Johnson, who recently retained his seat after receiving Trump's support during a confidence vote this month.

Watch the video below via ABC News or at the link..

GOP's Britt put on the spot by CNN's Tapper for supporting an election denier to head DOJ

CNN's Jake Tapper grilled Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL) for supporting an "election-denier" to serve as the next U.S. Attorney General.

Britt appeared on Sunday's State of the Union, where she spoke glowingly about Pam Bondi, former Florida AG and Donald Trump attorney during his first impeachment trial who made false claims about the "stolen" 2020 presidential election.

"You have said she has your support and she will help restore the Department of Justice to become one, quote, 'Driven by blind justice, not blind partisan politics,' unquote," Tapper began. "We should note that as a member of Trump's legal team in 2020, she falsely claimed that Trump had won Pennsylvania, which he had not. She spread baseless claims about widespread cheating by Democrats, about fake ballots. That is partisan politics, what she said in 2020; that is not justice."

Britt pivoted to "take a look at what's happened under the Biden administration — we have people in these offices who have chosen to go after American citizens, who have chosen to weaponize the justice system in a number of ways."

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Britt said that when she met with Bondi, she met a nominee who was committed" to getting back to doing the job of the people, to getting back to doing what the department was created to do," and was looking forward to Bondi making her case "before the American people."

"But why would you think somebody who's willing to lie about the election results in Pennsylvania is going to restore integrity in the Justice Department the way that you are calling for?" Tapper pressed.

Britt assured him that, "I asked that question very directly," but didn't give details.

"I'm sure she'll have an opportunity to answer this in front of the American people, but the answers she has given me, most definitely, she is not only qualified but she is ready to move forward and move forward in a way the American public deserves," Britt said.

Trump nominated Bondi to fill the AG post after former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) dropped out of contention for becoming a "distraction" over ethics complaints against him, including allegedly having sex with an underage girl.

You can watch below or at the link:

'Choke point': MSNBC writer outlines path to halting the GOP agenda

Despite its Republican majority, the House of Representatives is "poised to be the biggest likely choke point" for Donald Trump's agenda, according to MSNBC opinion writer Hayes Brown.

Hayes wrote that, "House Republicans will have an extremely narrow margin to work with and a right flank that is more than willing to blow up deals."

This was exemplified Friday when Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) had to fight to retain his House Speakership after Reps. Ralph Norman (R-SC) and Keith Self (R-TX) opposed him — but were finally convinced to change their votes for Johnson. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) remained the sole hold-out, upset over Johnson's handling of the pre-holiday federal budget vote that finally passed with help from Democrats.

Regarding the narrow majority — Republicans won a 220-215 lead in the 2024 elections — the exit of the disgraced former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and Trump's appointment of two more Republicans to Cabinet posts (Reps. Michael Waltz and Elise Stefanik) will shrink the majority even further.

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Hayes argued that Democrats need to stop playing nice with Republicans and hold fast to their values if they hope to retake the House in 2026.

"Should the GOP under Trump succeed in slashing the social safety net and otherwise destabilizing the American economy, the landscape will likely look much rosier for the opposition party. It’s important that Democrats’ fingerprints not be all over the scene of the crime of a crashed economy and other results of Trump’s autocratic impulses. An alternative vision and a refusal to cooperate with the party slashing needed programs would set the country on a path toward better policy.

"Standing firm against the majority and good policy outcomes don’t always align. But when they do, it’s an opportunity that can’t be passed up. Congressional Democrats need to be playing the long game, starting immediately. All of which, unfortunately, means that the time to start thinking about November 2026 is now, January 2025," Hayes wrote.

Read the full article here.

'Resistance is now futile': Disgraced ex-Rep Matt Gaetz urges GOP to give up speaker fight

Disgraced ex-Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) urged Republicans to support House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), posting to X on Monday that resistance was "now futile".

Gaetz's pronouncement came shortly after President-elect Donald Trump officially endorsed Johnson's bid to keep his job. The embattled speaker faces a contentious leadership vote on Jan. 3 after angering some members of his party with his handling of the federal budget, which finally passed the House this month after two failed votes that nearly caused a government shutdown.

Some MAGA Republicans accused Johnson of capitulating to Democrats by including too much pork in the final deal.

" Trump endorsing Johnson is 'art of the deal' level practicality," Gaetz wrote. "We could never have held up McCarthy two years ago for concessions if a Trump certification hung in the balance. Now, it does. We were able to hold up McCarthy because Republican voters weren’t all that eager to see us getting back to being Biden’s b---h (which Kevin ultimately did anyway). The resistance to @SpeakerJohnson is now futile. Let’s work to make him the best version of himself (which was more like the 2023 vintage of Mike)."

During his term, Gaetz was responsible for ousting Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) from the House speakership, eventually paving the way for Johnson to take the leadership role.

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Trump posted his support to Truth Social Monday, writing, "Speaker Mike Johnson is a good, hard working, religious man. He will do the right thing, and we will continue to WIN. Mike has my Complete & Total Endorsement. MAGA!”

Gaetz resigned from Congress in November to become Trump's nominee for attorney general. With ethics concerns swirling and a lack of support in the Senate, Gaetz dropped out of contention a week later, saying his nomination was "unfairly becoming a distraction".

Days before Christmas, the House released an ethics report on Gaetz, alleging that as a congressman he paid tens of thousands of dollars to women — and an underage girl — for sex or drugs on multiple occasions. He is expected to begin hosting "The Matt Gaetz Show" on conservative One America News beginning in January.

'Bad blood': Report highlights how 'intraparty feuding' is overtaking Senate GOP — again

Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy says he was ousted from his role due to his actions surrounding an ethics report on Matt Gaetz, and now that same report has caused turmoil within the Republican party once again, according to a report.

Gaetz was at the forefront of the battle to boot McCarthy from the speaker role, but he says his reasoning had nothing to do with the ethics report involving allegations of Gaetz's drug abuse and sex with an underage girl.

That drama appeared to have died down, but Trump's decision to nominate Gaetz for Attorney General has resurfaced the fighting.

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Annie Karni, who covers Congress for the New York Times, wrote on Sunday that Speaker Mike Johnson's decision to interfere with the ethics commission's decision to release the report was "a full-circle moment" for the GOP.

"Now Mr. McCarthy is long gone, Mr. Gaetz is the president-elect’s choice to run the Justice Department, and Mr. Johnson is doing what Mr. McCarthy never would — intervening to try to make sure the damaging material on Mr. Gaetz never sees the light of day," Karni wrote. "It is a fitting coda to two years of tumult in the Republican-led House, disorder that was exacerbated by bad blood among individual members."

The weekend report continues:

"The chaos has been driven by big-picture political dynamics: a polarized Congress where compromise is a lost art, a G.O.P. split between center-leaning conservatives and the hard right, and a too-small majority that gave outsize power to rebels like Mr. Gaetz."

Karni goes on to say that the "public drama was also fueled at least in part by more personal and petty feuds, chief among them the one between Mr. Gaetz and Mr. McCarthy over the ethics inquiry."

"Their epic rivalry became emblematic of the party’s deeper problems. Personal vendettas and shifting alliances became as important to its players as any ideology or policy win. Over the past two years in Congress, governing often took a back seat to intraparty feuding," the report states. "Mr. McCarthy has long claimed that Mr. Gaetz tried to block his ascension to the speakership, and then patiently plotted his downfall because of his refusal to quash the investigation."

Read the report here.

'Conspiracy': MSNBC's Morning Joe gets personal about Matt Gaetz AG nomination

The co-host of MSNBC's "Morning Joe" got personal on Thursday while reporting on Donald Trump's stunning decision to announce Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) as his attorney general nominee.

The segment started off with an out-of-character disclaimer from Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski stating that it is their job to remain fair in their commentary before they turned to an earlier report that the Florida Republican has previously been accused of having a file on Scarborough based upon conspiracy theories that have long been debunked.

Brzezinski began with, "According to the Washington Post, Gaetz has been under investigation of the bipartisan committee for allegations that he may have engaged in sexual misconduct, illegal drug use, and accepted improper gifts."

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She then continued, "And now more on the character of Matt Gaetz and how it connects to this show. Donald Trump began tweeting about widely discredited conspiracy theories about Joe after receiving documents given to Trump by Congressman Gaetz."

"That's according to former White House communications director Alyssa Farah Griffin. She revealed the information in 2022 during her deposition before the House select committee investigating the January 6th attack," she continued. "She told lawmakers she was in the West Wing with Republican Congressman Jim Jordan, former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany and Gaetz when she noticed he had a folder with him. When she asked him what was in it she said Gaetz pulled out conspiracy theories about Joe Scarborough."

"Farah Griffin said she then told Gaetz he could not put that in front of the president right as she was getting ushered into the Oval Office," Brzezinski continued. "The next morning, then president Trump started tweeting about those debunked conspiracy theories. Trump tweeted about those lies to millions of followers for at least five times over the next three years. Those posts caused so much pain and emotional trauma for the widower of an aide who worked for Joe, that the widower himself wrote an open letter to Jack Dorsey, the then CEO of Twitter pleading with him to remove the posts from social media, from the platform, writing, quote, 'My wife deserves better.'"

"Twitter never deleted the posts, responding in a statement that the tweets did not violate its terms of service," she added

Scarborough then interjected with, "They of course changed the terms of service the next day, so..."

You can watch below or at the link here.

- YouTubeyoutu.be

'Caused such a stir': Reporter sheds light on 'the point' of Trump's controversial picks

Donald Trump has made some cabinet choices that have confused and upset even his closest congressional allies, and there's a reason for that, according to a CNN reporter.

Trump's choice for Tulsi Gabbard to be the nation's top spy and for Fox News anchor Pete Hegseth to be defense secretary have caused some outrage, but nothing comes close to the former and incoming president's choice for Matt Gaetz to be Attorney General.

But "they are perfectly in tune with Trump’s campaign trail promises and political project," according to senior CNN reporter Stephen Collinson.

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"The dismay engulfing establishment elites contrasted with the euphoria rocketing through conservative networks and social media among Trump fans," he wrote. "The president-elect draws political strength from his position as an outsider scourge of the establishment, and if his picks are confirmed by the Senate — a huge if in the case of Gaetz — they will be tasked with his mission of defenestrating government and driving out those Trump sees as enemies."

But even beyond that, according to Collinson, "outrage is the point" of the picks.

"The latest selections for Trump’s MAGA dream team caused such a stir that they almost overshadowed the pick of Fox News anchor Pete Hegseth to serve as defense secretary on Tuesday night," he wrote before quoting Trump’s short-lived former first-term communications director Anthony Scaramucci in saying that "the president-elect’s personnel selections were purposely meant to 'own the liberals.'"

Collinson also quoted Pennsylvania Democratic Sen. John Fetterman as saying, “It’s just kind of like a god-tier, kind of trolling, just to trigger a meltdown.”

Read the full report here.

'The fix is in': Defiant Matt Gaetz lashes out at House Ethics Committee's investigation

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) issued a defiant statement on Thursday as the House Ethics Committee seemingly prepares to release a report into reported misconduct involving an underage girl.

In a letter to the House Ethics Committee, Gaetz said he would no longer cooperate willingly with their investigation and declared that "the fix is in."

"Your investigation into me has devolved into a political payback exercise, devoid of adequate due process, riddled with leaks, and now seeking deeply personal information that is no business of Congress," Gaetz wrote, and then accused the committee of releasing "public statements to cast me in a negative light."

Gaetz went on to address rumors that he engaged in sex with a minor and that he had taken illegal drugs.

While Gaetz unequivocally denied having sexual relations with an underage girl, he was more cagey when it came to answer questions about his past drug use.

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"I have no used drugs which are illegal, absent some law allowing use in a jurisdiction of the United States," he wrote. "I have not used 'illicit' drugs, which I consider to be drugs unlawful for medical or over-the-counter use everywhere in the United States."

He closed his letter by announcing he was cutting off further cooperation with the probe.

"I will no longer voluntarily participate in this regrettable abuse of the Committee," he said. "I understand that the Committee has issued, but not served, a subpoena for my testimony. I explicitly reserve all of my rights pursuant to the House Rules and the U.S. Constitution."

Gaetz was investigated by the United States Department of Justice over potential sex trafficking but was ultimately not charged criminally.

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