Matt Gaetz reported to be leaving the House

Lennart Hyland said:
I cant stand these "hearings". From this one and the one with Blinken all I've seen is members of GOP smearing the witnesses with their opinions only asking one or two complex questions demanding an yes or no answer. Is that normal proceedings? Then whats the purpose of that?

I'm amazed how they can just sit there with a straight face and take it.
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They're supposed to be for getting questions answered on an honest basis but they're really just opportunities for politicians to grandstand and get some attention.
 
Complaints that Congressional hearings are just opportunities for members of Congress or Senators to grandstand or create sound bites for themselves seems unfair to me and also inaccurate. These hearings usually last hours, they're often available on C-span or there are transcripts available online. If you only see what the 6 o'clock news presents you're going to get a very misleading impression. Serious members of Congress or the Senate ask detailed and informed questions about policy and actions.

From the Washington Post coverage of the recent Senate hearing with General Milley and other top military officials:
Speaking at a high-profile Senate hearing, Milley and Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie, commander of the U.S. Central Command, acknowledged that they had previously advised Biden not to withdraw all American troops ahead of the late-August evacuation. Also facing pointed questions from members of the Senate Armed Services Committee was Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. The three testified in public for five and half hours before going into a closed-door session with members of the committee.

  • Milley testified that key Trump officials knew of his two calls to reassure his Chinese counterpart that President Donald Trump had no plans to attack China late in his administration, and that Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper directed the first one.
  • Milley says the Taliban had 6,000 troops in Kabul and that the United States would have incurred “significant” casualties if it had extended its withdrawal deadline past Aug. 31.
Washington Post link (which doe not appear to be paywalled)
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Democratic Senators like Elizabeth Warren asked General Milley about the timetable on withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan. Senator Kristen Gillibrand asked General Kenneth McKenzie about the actions of the Afghan government and military in the leadup to the fall of Kabul. Senator Jeanne Shaheen asked General Milley as to why he thought Defense Dept. analysts had concluded, erroneously, that the Afghan government and military was unlikely to collapse as quickly as they did in the face of the Taliban advance.

Republican Senator Josh Hawley asked Milley if he hadn't spent too much time with journalists writing 'tell-all' books, thereby neglecting his military responsibilities.
 
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newyorkguy said:
Complaints that Congressional hearings are just opportunities for members of Congress or Senators to grandstand or create sound bites for themselves seems unfair to me and also inaccurate. These hearings usually last hours, they're often available on C-span or there are transcripts available online. If you only see what the 6 o'clock news presents you're going to get a very misleading impression. Serious members of Congress or the Senate ask detailed and informed questions about policy and actions.

From the Washington Post coverage of the recent Senate hearing with General Milley and other top military officials:


Democratic Senators like Elizabeth Warren asked General Milley about the timetable on withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan. Senator Kristen Gillibrand asked General Kenneth McKenzie about the actions of the Afghan government and military in the leadup to the fall of Kabul. Senator Jeanne Shaheen asked General Milley as to why he thought Defense Dept. analysts had concluded, erroneously, that the Afghan government and military was unlikely to collapse as quickly as they did in the face of the Taliban advance.

Republican Senator Josh Hawley asked Milley if he hadn't spent too much time with journalists writing 'tell-all' books, thereby neglecting his military responsibilities.
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Let me amend my previous post to "They're supposed to be for getting questions answered on an honest basis and some do so, but they're really often just opportunities for politicians from the opposite party to grandstand and get some attention.
 
Bad news for Gaetz?

https://news.yahoo.com/trial-set-man-accused-matt-161104108.html:
Joel Greenberg, the friend of U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz who pleaded guilty earlier this year to sex trafficking, asked a judge on Tuesday to postpone his sentencing until next year so he can continue cooperating with federal authorities.
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The extra time will give the former local tax collector from an Orlando suburb more time to sit for interviews with federal investigators, the filing said.
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Gaetz, a Republican who represents much of the Florida Panhandle, was not mentioned in Greenberg’s plea agreement. But Greenberg’s cooperation could play a role in an ongoing investigation into whether Gaetz paid a 17-year-old girl for sex.
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Craig4 said:
They can't support you at sentencing if they interview you after you've been sentenced.
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Since he's cooperating with the fed investigators, he's likely made some sort of deal. These deals usually include not being charged with some crime(s) they could also be charged with. These can be used to hold over their heads if they don't cooperate in future.
 
"Bad news" for Gaetz will be some girl's father beating him to within an inch of his life, and then threatening him with more where that came from if he doesn't resign immediately and go live in Montana under an assumed name.
 
Norman Alexander said:
"Bad news" for Gaetz will be some girl's father beating him to within an inch of his life, and then threatening him with more where that came from if he doesn't resign immediately and go live in Montana under an assumed name.
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Right that's our last hope, random street justice. Same thing that didn't happen to Roy Moore or any other member of the Right caught kiddy diddling or having a wide stance or whatever.
 
JoeMorgue said:
Right that's our last hope, random street justice. Same thing that didn't happen to Roy Moore or any other member of the Right caught kiddy diddling or having a wide stance or whatever.
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I was having a larf. But that is also the traditional method of certain fascists dealing with things and people that offend them. So turn about seems fair, no?
 
Stacyhs said:
They can't support you at sentencing if they interview you after you've been sentenced.
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Since he's cooperating with the fed investigators, he's likely made some sort of deal. These deals usually include not being charged with some crime(s) they could also be charged with. These can be used to hold over their heads if they don't cooperate in future.
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In theory they COULD sentence them according to the plea deal, but hold back some charges in case their cooperation is faulty. But, I suspect prosecutors want to maintain as much flexibility as possible.

In other words, keep as many potential charges open in case he is lying to the investigators. (Especially if the charge under the plea deal is one of the easier to prove in court.)
 
As expected, more delays in the sentencing of Greenberg.

From: Politico
Joel Greenberg was set to be sentenced on Nov. 18 for six crimes he pleaded guilty to ...but prosecutors successfully implored U.S. District Judge Gregory Presnell to wait until March so they can track down all of the leads Greenberg has given to investigators.
...
Prosecutors on Monday hinted that Greenberg’s case has ensnared multiple people and led to several lines of investigation....One of the co-conspirators in that Covid-relief scheme, a one-time mortgage broker named Nabil Dajani, is expected to be charged as a result of the crime...A longtime friend of Greenberg’s named Joe Ellicott is under investigation on suspicion of sex-trafficking...former friend of Greenberg’s, Chris Dorworth, was interviewed by federal prosecutors about whether he was involved in a scheme to recruit a so-called “ghost candidate” in a state senate race...Two other men tied to Gaetz, former Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation Secretary Halsey Beshears and former Orlando Aviation Authority member Jason Pirozzolo, are facing investigations connected to their travel to the Bahamas with Gaetz

One of the problems though is that the closer they get to the mid-term elections, the less likely they will be to press charges against Gaetz, because they don't want to be seen as interfering in an election. (Not sure if it would be better or worse to see him arrested before the election, or immediately after.)
 
Segnosaur said:
As expected, more delays in the sentencing of Greenberg.

From: Politico
Joel Greenberg was set to be sentenced on Nov. 18 for six crimes he pleaded guilty to ...but prosecutors successfully implored U.S. District Judge Gregory Presnell to wait until March so they can track down all of the leads Greenberg has given to investigators.
...
Prosecutors on Monday hinted that Greenberg’s case has ensnared multiple people and led to several lines of investigation....One of the co-conspirators in that Covid-relief scheme, a one-time mortgage broker named Nabil Dajani, is expected to be charged as a result of the crime...A longtime friend of Greenberg’s named Joe Ellicott is under investigation on suspicion of sex-trafficking...former friend of Greenberg’s, Chris Dorworth, was interviewed by federal prosecutors about whether he was involved in a scheme to recruit a so-called “ghost candidate” in a state senate race...Two other men tied to Gaetz, former Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation Secretary Halsey Beshears and former Orlando Aviation Authority member Jason Pirozzolo, are facing investigations connected to their travel to the Bahamas with Gaetz

One of the problems though is that the closer they get to the mid-term elections, the less likely they will be to press charges against Gaetz, because they don't want to be seen as interfering in an election. (Not sure if it would be better or worse to see him arrested before the election, or immediately after.)
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The elections are over a year away. They have time to charge Gaetz well before.
 
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