• Due to ongoing issues caused by Search, it has been temporarily disabled
  • Please excuse the mess, we're moving the furniture and restructuring the forum categories
  • You may need to edit your signatures.

    When we moved to Xenfora some of the signature options didn't come over. In the old software signatures were limited by a character limit, on Xenfora there are more options and there is a character number and number of lines limit. I've set maximum number of lines to 4 and unlimited characters.

Matt Gaetz reported to be leaving the House

Norman Alexander said:
Bet Gaetz is going cap in hand to Trumpy to get a pardon off him come January 20.
Click to expand...
He's likely not going to be charged by by the Federal government. The DOJ knew he likely did all this and they didn't charge him. Most of those crimes are State offenses anyway. So a pardon by Trump would be worthless. But I doubt he's going to be charged in Florida where I assume most of these acts took place.

I find it amusing that he went to a judge trying to prevent the release after it's been released.
 
acbytesla said:
He's likely not going to be charged by by the Federal government. The DOJ knew he likely did all this and they didn't charge him. Most of those crimes are State offenses anyway. So a pardon by Trump would be worthless. But I doubt he's going to be charged in Florida where I assume most of these acts took place.

I find it amusing that he went to a judge trying to prevent the release after it's been released.
Click to expand...
He could be charged in future. So a Trump pardon could be insurance.
 
Norman Alexander said:
He could be charged in future. So a Trump pardon could be insurance.
Click to expand...
Anything is possible. I don't think it's very probable.

As I said, it wouldn't protect Gaetz against State crimes. Also while drug use is against the law, proving someone took drugs is a lot harder than you think. There is no physical evidence for that. No physical evidence for possession which is what almost everyone is charged for. And no proof that he ever possessed a substantial amount of drugs to rise to be a federal offence. Then there are the prostitution charges. Those are state crimes. The DOJ was considering charging Gaetz for having sex with a minor. But as I understand it the girl lied about her age and wasn't considered to be a very good witness.

I believe the evidence that Gaetz paid for prostitutes is very good. Not just the testimony of the girls/women, but Venmo receipts.


.
 
Yeah. Gaetz will disappear faster than you can say Madison Cawthorn. Obviously he has no further use and there is little sentimentality in Trumpworld.

That tweet looks like it was written by a teenager. Maybe Gaetz got his girlfriend to write it.
 
acbytesla said:
Anything is possible. I don't think it's very probable.

As I said, it wouldn't protect Gaetz against State crimes. Also while drug use is against the law, proving someone took drugs is a lot harder than you think. There is no physical evidence for that. No physical evidence for possession which is what almost everyone is charged for. And no proof that he ever possessed a substantial amount of drugs to rise to be a federal offence. Then there are the prostitution charges. Those are state crimes. The DOJ was considering charging Gaetz for having sex with a minor. But as I understand it the girl lied about her age and wasn't considered to be a very good witness.

I believe the evidence that Gaetz paid for prostitutes is very good. Not just the testimony of the girls/women, but Venmo receipts.
Click to expand...

It really depends with regards to federal charges on if he crossed state lines with said minor, paid for her to travel to where he was, took her on an out of country vacation or something like that. I understand the hesitancy of charging a sitting congress critter but he isn't a sitting congress critter anymore. He's just some ass hole that's about to get his own television show on a 2nd rate right-wing news outlet.

It's entirely possible that the release of this report will put pressure on state or federal officials to move forward with charges. We've seen it before.
 
thaiboxerken said:
Gaetz is damaged goods now, Trump will ignore him.
Click to expand...
I agree, Trump is likely to turn down Gaetz if he asked. Still, you never know with Trump. He pardoned Bannon and Flynn. But he never pardoned Rudy G.

But if the Biden DOJ wouldn't prosecute Gaetz, there is little reason to think the Trump DOJ is going to. So no way does Trump issue a preemptive pardon given the possible Federal charges that are extremely unlikely. Why waste the political capital when Gaetz is unlikely to be charged?
 
plague311 said:
It really depends with regards to federal charges on if he crossed state lines with said minor, paid for her to travel to where he was, took her on an out of country vacation or something like that. I understand the hesitancy of charging a sitting congress critter but he isn't a sitting congress critter anymore. He's just some ass hole that's about to get his own television show on a 2nd rate right-wing news outlet.

It's entirely possible that the release of this report will put pressure on state or federal officials to move forward with charges. We've seen it before.
Click to expand...
Yes, it does depend on all that. But I stand by assessment that Gaetz is unlikely to be charged. And it's even more unlikely that Trump would issue a preemptive pardon for Gaetz. That is unless Gaetz has something on Trump. And given Trump's abilities to avoid accountability, it would need to be very good.
 
acbytesla said:
But he never pardoned Rudy G.
Click to expand...

What would he have pardoned Rudy G. for?
acbytesla said:
Yes, it does depend on all that. But I stand by assessment that Gaetz is unlikely to be charged. And it's even more unlikely that Trump would issue a preemptive pardon for Gaetz. That is unless Gaetz has something on Trump. And given Trump's abilities to avoid accountability, it would need to be very good.
Click to expand...

I doubt he'll be charged as well, but I wouldn't be surprised if the report came out and questions were asked as to why. The louder it is talked about the more pressure comes from it. He also doesn't have the clout of a current sitting member of the House, which I think is a pretty big deal.
 
a_unique_person said:
I don't think it's so much clout anymore. They all hate him, which is quite an achievement. They are more concerned about a scandal attached to the House.
Click to expand...

As well they should! I just meant that the DOJ is going to have to be 100% sure, beyond any reasonable doubt that they have a locked down case if they're going after someone in the House. More than if they're going after you or I (assuming you aren't actually in the House). They would err on the side of caution. The GOP is pretty impervious to any form of bad publicity it seems.
 
plague311 said:
What would he have pardoned Rudy G. for?
Click to expand...
Rudy was heavily involved in election interference in the 2020 election. And it was reported that he was seeking a pardon at the end of Trump's first term
plague311 said:
I doubt he'll be charged as well, but I wouldn't be surprised if the report came out and questions were asked as to why. The louder it is talked about the more pressure comes from it. He also doesn't have the clout of a current sitting member of the House, which I think is a pretty big deal.
Click to expand...
All of which is true. Gaetz's buddy is doing time for this. So maybe.

But I wouldn't expect Trump to even consider it until there are signs that Gaetz may actually face charges,
 
FYI: State of Florida Statute of Limitations for the following possible Gaetz offenses. Keep in mind that the offenses took place between 2017 and 2019.

Statutory Rape: 3 years
Prostitution: 1 year
Drug possession 3 years
The clock starts on discovery. So charges must be filed within that amount of time from when the State discovered the commission of these crimes. It seems highly unlikely that clock hasn't been ticking for at least a few years. But maybe a Florida prosecutor could argue it starts today.
No way do they charge him for the drug charge. Too difficult to prove.

No, this was about putting a dagger into Gaetz's political career.
 
acbytesla said:
FYI: State of Florida Statute of Limitations for the following possible Gaetz offenses. Keep in mind that the offenses took place between 2017 and 2019.

Statutory Rape: 3 years
Prostitution: 1 year
Drug possession 3 years
The clock starts on discovery. So charges must be filed within that amount of time from when the State discovered the commission of these crimes. It seems highly unlikely that clock hasn't been ticking for at least a few years. But maybe a Florida prosecutor could argue it starts today.
No way do they charge him for the drug charge. Too difficult to prove.

No, this was about putting a dagger into Gaetz's political career.
Click to expand...
They just need to file new charges today. Clock restarts.
 
acbytesla said:
FYI: State of Florida Statute of Limitations for the following possible Gaetz offenses. Keep in mind that the offenses took place between 2017 and 2019.

Statutory Rape: 3 years
Prostitution: 1 year
Drug possession 3 years
The clock starts on discovery. So charges must be filed within that amount of time from when the State discovered the commission of these crimes. It seems highly unlikely that clock hasn't been ticking for at least a few years. But maybe a Florida prosecutor could argue it starts today.
No way do they charge him for the drug charge. Too difficult to prove.

No, this was about putting a dagger into Gaetz's political career.
Click to expand...
Hasn't he been hired to be a conservative network talking head?
 
Norman Alexander said:
They just need to file new charges today. Clock restarts.
Click to expand...
I don't know if it works that way. It's not a stop watch with a reset button. But I can imagine a Florida prosecutor saying the State of Florida was unaware of the crimes before the Ethics Report was released.
 
Apart from what the report says about Gaetz's actions, this is the least surprising bit:

The vote to put out the report – which was opposed by panel Chairman Michael Guest, a Mississippi Republican
Click to expand...
MAGA politicians are the most morally and ethically corrupt POS.
 
acbytesla said:
I agree, Trump is likely to turn down Gaetz if he asked. Still, you never know with Trump. He pardoned Bannon and Flynn. But he never pardoned Rudy G.

But if the Biden DOJ wouldn't prosecute Gaetz, there is little reason to think the Trump DOJ is going to. So no way does Trump issue a preemptive pardon given the possible Federal charges that are extremely unlikely. Why waste the political capital when Gaetz is unlikely to be charged?
Click to expand...
Bannon and Flynn were still useful to T****y, Ghouliani isn't (in fact I go so far to say that it's gotten to the stage where even T****y can see Ghouliani is actively hurting him).
 
plague311 said:
As well they should! I just meant that the DOJ is going to have to be 100% sure, beyond any reasonable doubt that they have a locked down case if they're going after someone in the House. More than if they're going after you or I (assuming you aren't actually in the House). They would err on the side of caution. The GOP is pretty impervious to any form of bad publicity it seems.
Click to expand...
It really depends on daddy Gaetz (the greasy eminence of Florida politics), if he sees more mileage in throwing his son to the wolves it'll happen quicker than you think; if not, it'll never happen.
 
acbytesla said:
FYI: State of Florida Statute of Limitations for the following possible Gaetz offenses. Keep in mind that the offenses took place between 2017 and 2019.

Statutory Rape: 3 years
Prostitution: 1 year
Drug possession 3 years
The clock starts on discovery. So charges must be filed within that amount of time from when the State discovered the commission of these crimes. It seems highly unlikely that clock hasn't been ticking for at least a few years. But maybe a Florida prosecutor could argue it starts today.
No way do they charge him for the drug charge. Too difficult to prove.

No, this was about putting a dagger into Gaetz's political career.
Click to expand...
As I have said elsewhere, it's crazy that there's a statute of limitations for an offence as serious as rape.
 
acbytesla said:
I don't know if it works that way. It's not a stop watch with a reset button. But I can imagine a Florida prosecutor saying the State of Florida was unaware of the crimes before the Ethics Report was released.
Click to expand...

Statute of Limitations in Florida appears to start the day after the crime has been committed. So I'm sure these charges would be long past their expiration date. ETA: I'm not sure what the federal charges would be if they, for some reason, decided to pursue them.
 
Last edited:
plague311 said:
Statute of Limitations in Florida appears to start the day after the crime has been committed. So I'm sure these charges would be long past their expiration date. ETA: I'm not sure what the federal charges would be if they, for some reason, decided to pursue them.
Click to expand...
The Google search I made said from the discovery of the offense.
 
Trump is claiming that the ethics committee report is unfair. Wow, his crazy is so unpredictable. I'm sure it is more about defending his own self, not about Matt, because Trump never makes mistakes.
 
This statute of limitations thing for crimes is weird to me. Either a crime was committed or not, why does it matter how long ago it was?
 
Darat said:
This statute of limitations thing for crimes is weird to me. Either a crime was committed or not, why does it matter how long ago it was?
Click to expand...
It exists because the passage of time can make it more difficult, or even impossible, for the accused to defend himself. Memories fade and witnesses may disappear, die, etc.
 
Stacyhs said:
It exists because the passage of time can make it more difficult, or even impossible, for the accused to defend himself. Memories fade and witnesses may disappear, die, etc.
Click to expand...

To me that would mean that the prosecutor should decide not to bring the case, if they didn't have a case. If the evidence is solid, the case can be made, and they can get a conviction then any crime should be chargeable.
 
Stacyhs said:
It exists because the passage of time can make it more difficult, or even impossible, for the accused to defend himself. Memories fade and witnesses may disappear, die, etc.
Click to expand...
In our common law system it isn’t up to the defendant to prove their innocence but for the prosecution to prove guilt.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom