The Daily Beast has published a profile of U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) who is reportedly under investigation by the DOJ for possibly having a sexual relationship with a 17-year old girl and for possible child sex-trafficking.
The profile was less-than-flattering, with The Beast reporting Gaetz’s “less-than-sterling reputation among his colleagues has many Republicans questioning the wisdom of jumping to his defense” – although none have jumped to condemn him either.
“Republicans on and off Capitol Hill on Wednesday largely kept their mouths shut,” The Beast reports, while offering up a disturbing revelation about the Florida GOP Congressman.
“Gaetz—the Trump-loving, Fox News-grinning, 38-year-old Florida Republican—has a less-than-sterling reputation among his congressional colleagues,” The Beast says, with those colleagues indicting him over alcohol, drugs, and women.
“More than a half-dozen lawmakers have spoken to these reporters about his love of alcohol and illegal drugs, as well as his proclivity for younger women,” The Beast reports. “It’s well-known among Republican lawmakers that Gaetz was dating a college student—one over the age of consent—in 2018. She came to Washington as an intern.”
Then, there’s a “cartoonishly scandalous perception of Gaetz [which] is so commonplace that sometimes it’s visible, literally, in the halls of Congress. A Hill source sent The Daily Beast a photo of a trash bin outside Gaetz’s office as lawmakers cleared out their offices at the end of a recent session. At the top of the heap was an empty Costco-size box of ‘Bareskin’ Trojan condoms.”