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In The Wake Of News He May Leave Congress To Pursue A Newsmax Gig, Matt Gaetz Is Reportedly Being Investigated For Having Sex With A Minor

Life moves pretty fast. For Matt Gaetz, one of the biggest Trump loyalists in Congress, Tuesday began with word that he may be considering leaving the House, pursuing a full-time gig at the far-right station Newsmax. (Previously he threatened to quit his job to defend Trump’s second impeachment trial. He didn’t do that.) It ended with The New York Times revealing that he’s being investigated over a possible sexual relationship with a minor.

As per the Times, the Justice Department has been looking into the situation since the final months of the Trump presidency, under former Attorney General William Barr. Gaetz has been suspected of paying a young woman to travel with him across state lines. The alleged relations occurred two years ago, when she was 17. If true, that’s a violation of numerous statutes, which make it illegal to induce someone under 18 to cross state lines to engage in sexual relations for pay. No charges have yet been brought up against the politician.

Gaetz told NYT that his lawyers had been in touch with the Justice Department, but that he was only a subject, not the target, of the investigation. Said target appears to be one of his political allies, a Florida official named Joel Greenberg, who was indicted last summer on a barrage of charges, among them sex trafficking of a child.

“I only know that it has to do with women,” Mr. Gaetz told the Times. “I have a suspicion that someone is trying to recategorize my generosity to ex-girlfriends as something more untoward.”

Gatez has risen to notoriety as a close associate of Trump, and is regularly dragged on social media for some of his defenses of the disgraced former president. So when news broke about the investigation, mere hours after word that he may be transitioning into a TV personality full-time, there were jokes.

And some people wondering if the two stories have any kind of relation to each other.

(Via NYT)