Free Republic

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) defended himself after news broke on Tuesday of a Department of Justice (DOJ) probe reportedly investigating whether the lawmaker had sexual relations with a teenager, claiming he was the victim of “an organized criminal extortion” involving a former DOJ official. “Over the past several weeks my family and I have been victims of an organized criminal extortion involving a former DOJ official seeking $25 million while threatening to smear my name,” Gaetz said in a series of tweets on Tuesday. “We have been cooperating with federal authorities in this matter and my father has even been...

SNIP The lawmaker told The Times he suspects somebody is trying to extort him and his family for $25 million. “I have a suspicion that someone is trying to recategorize my generosity to ex-girlfriends as something more untoward,” he told the newspaper. He added in a series of tweets Tuesday night that he and his family have been working with the feds in an investigation that involves a former DOJ official seeking to extort him. “My father has even been wearing a wire at the FBI’s direction to catch these criminals. The planted leak to the FBI tonight was intended...

Earlier today, the Wall Street Journal reported about how the US Justice Department has been investigating whether Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl and paid her to travel with him, people familiar with the matter said. Investigators are examining whether Mr. Gaetz, a close ally of former President Donald Trump, violated federal sex-trafficking laws, the people said. Those laws make it illegal to transport someone younger than 18 across state lines to engage in sex. The investigation, first reported by the New York Times, began last year when Mr. Trump was president,...