# Matt Gaetz being investigated for sex with 17 year old girl (DOJ declines to charge 2023-02-15) **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [March 30, 2021, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-gaetz-being-investigated-for-sex-with-17-year-old-girl-doj-declines-to-charge-2023-02-15/939052 "2021-03-30T22:13:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2021, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-gaetz-being-investigated-for-sex-with-17-year-old-girl-doj-declines-to-charge-2023-02-15/939052/1 "2021-03-30T22:13:42Z")
This might explain the talk that he will quit Congress Investigation started when Trump was still in office [https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/the-doj-is-reportedly-investigating-rep-matt-gaetz-over-whether-he-had-a-sexual-relationship-with-a-17-year-old/ar-BB1f8h01](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/the-doj-is-reportedly-investigating-rep-matt-gaetz-over-whether-he-had-a-sexual-relationship-with-a-17-year-old/ar-BB1f8h01) ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2021, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-gaetz-being-investigated-for-sex-with-17-year-old-girl-doj-declines-to-charge-2023-02-15/939052/2 "2021-03-30T22:29:54Z")
More [coverage](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/30/us/politics/matt-gaetz-sex-trafficking-investigation.html) from the NY Times: > The investigation was opened in the final months of the Trump administration under Attorney General William P. Barr, the two people said. Given Mr. Gaetz’s national profile, senior Justice Department officials in Washington — including some appointed by Mr. Trump — were notified of the investigation, the people said. > The three people said that the examination of Mr. Gaetz, 38, is part of a broader investigation into a political ally of his, a local official in Florida named Joel Greenberg, who was indicted last summer on [an array of charges](https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/seminole-county/os-ne-joel-greenberg-federal-trial-date-20210125-sitkjysnfnhrpedplpmhdjsglq-story.html), [including](https://int.nyt.com/data/documenttools/joel-greenberg-sex-trafficking-indictment/909d43f06dc4b17c/full.pdf) sex trafficking of a child and financially supporting people in exchange for sex, at least one of whom was an underage girl. I’m sure this gentleman would’ve been great friends with Denny Hastert. ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2021, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-gaetz-being-investigated-for-sex-with-17-year-old-girl-doj-declines-to-charge-2023-02-15/939052/3 "2021-03-30T22:42:59Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > This might explain the talk that he will quit Congress Investigation started when Trump was still in office I thought that same thing the minute the NYT alert showed up in my inbox. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2021, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-gaetz-being-investigated-for-sex-with-17-year-old-girl-doj-declines-to-charge-2023-02-15/939052/4 "2021-03-30T22:49:14Z")
Honestly, after the whole secretly adopting a teenage boy thing, the only thing that surprises me here is the word “girl”. ---
**Author:** ![Boycott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boycott/32/6741_2.png) [@Boycott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boycott)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2021, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-gaetz-being-investigated-for-sex-with-17-year-old-girl-doj-declines-to-charge-2023-02-15/939052/5 "2021-03-30T22:58:40Z")
Wow. I’m not sure what to say. He’s certainly not been shy of staying out there appearing on TV while under investigation if this reporting is correct it started under Barr. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2021, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-gaetz-being-investigated-for-sex-with-17-year-old-girl-doj-declines-to-charge-2023-02-15/939052/6 "2021-03-30T23:01:15Z")
Everybody who is surprise by this go stand over there. Yes, in that phone booth. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2021, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-gaetz-being-investigated-for-sex-with-17-year-old-girl-doj-declines-to-charge-2023-02-15/939052/7 "2021-03-30T23:27:28Z")
From a comment in the NYT: > Wait, did Q have it all wrong? Sure it wasn’t a cabal of Republicans? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2021, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-gaetz-being-investigated-for-sex-with-17-year-old-girl-doj-declines-to-charge-2023-02-15/939052/8 "2021-03-30T23:35:12Z")
My favorite story on this is how Politico reported that Matt Gaetz, a Congressman from south Florida, is being investigated for having illegal sexual contact with a seventeen year old girl. Gaetz immediately counter-attacked and rebutted the accuracy of the article - Gaetz represents Florida’s First Congressional District, which is in _north_ Florida. Yes, Matt, that was definitely the part of that report that was damaging you. Good job clearing it up. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2021, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-gaetz-being-investigated-for-sex-with-17-year-old-girl-doj-declines-to-charge-2023-02-15/939052/9 "2021-03-30T23:40:22Z")
Well, [this](https://www.pnj.com/story/news/politics/2017/12/29/matt-gaetz-defends-lone-no-vote-anti-human-trafficking-bill/990407001/) suddenly makes a lot more sense. _“Rep. Matt Gaetz took to Facebook Live on Thursday night from his parents’ living room in Walton County to defend his lone no vote on an anti-human trafficking bill that passed both houses of Congress on Dec. 19.”_ ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2021, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-gaetz-being-investigated-for-sex-with-17-year-old-girl-doj-declines-to-charge-2023-02-15/939052/10 "2021-03-30T23:41:28Z")
Oh, I’m going to miss that shouting, grimacing, grandstanding photo-op douchebag asshole. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2021, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-gaetz-being-investigated-for-sex-with-17-year-old-girl-doj-declines-to-charge-2023-02-15/939052/11 "2021-03-31T00:04:07Z")
Twitter is having a ball with this story. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2021, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-gaetz-being-investigated-for-sex-with-17-year-old-girl-doj-declines-to-charge-2023-02-15/939052/12 "2021-03-31T00:16:54Z")
The plot thickens: [https://twitter.com/mattgaetz/status/1377030477257773065](https://twitter.com/mattgaetz/status/1377030477257773065) Not that it makes him less guilty sounding. I mean why would blackmail someone (especially someone high powered with lots of contacts) if you both know they didn’t commit the crime? ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2021, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-gaetz-being-investigated-for-sex-with-17-year-old-girl-doj-declines-to-charge-2023-02-15/939052/13 "2021-03-31T00:26:40Z")
Huh. An organized criminal extortion seeking $25 million. That seems pretty likely. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2021, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-gaetz-being-investigated-for-sex-with-17-year-old-girl-doj-declines-to-charge-2023-02-15/939052/14 "2021-03-31T00:31:54Z")
It also seems like a pretty unlikely thing to completely make up and then get away with. Made up or not it definitely doesn’t make him sound less guilty. I mean seriously why would someone make up something and say “I’m going blackmail you with this lie I just made up we both know is false. And as you’re just a powerful politician with lots of contacts, who is the golden boy of the Trump administration, there is nothing you can do about it!” ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2021, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-gaetz-being-investigated-for-sex-with-17-year-old-girl-doj-declines-to-charge-2023-02-15/939052/15 "2021-03-31T00:47:35Z")
Appears to be scrambling to rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic. But we’ll see. Watching with interest. ---
**Author:** ![Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mundane_super_hero/32/6304_2.png) [@Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mundane_Super_Hero)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2021, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-gaetz-being-investigated-for-sex-with-17-year-old-girl-doj-declines-to-charge-2023-02-15/939052/16 "2021-03-31T00:50:21Z")
\< checks forum \> I think that this just might be a career ending mistake. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2021, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-gaetz-being-investigated-for-sex-with-17-year-old-girl-doj-declines-to-charge-2023-02-15/939052/17 "2021-03-31T00:56:24Z")
He could also be betting that playing into the QAnon/Deep State narrative is the best way for his career to survive this. What’s depressing is he’s not necessarily wrong ☹ ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2021, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-gaetz-being-investigated-for-sex-with-17-year-old-girl-doj-declines-to-charge-2023-02-15/939052/18 "2021-03-31T01:26:27Z")
From the MSN article: > He told Axios: “I have definitely, in my single days, provided for women I’ve dated. You know, I’ve paid for flights, for hotel rooms. I’ve been, you know, generous as a partner. I think someone is trying to make that look criminal when it is not.” > > Asked whether any of the women he interacted with were minors, Gaetz said he was “absolutely” sure none of them were. “As a gentleman of the highest moral standing, I have always paid all expenses for all the ~~whores~~ women I’ve fucked. If any of them was under age, they never told me. And even if they had, I would still have paid them. I’m a ‘family values’ Republican, FFS!.” ---
**Author:** ![Precambrianmollusc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/precambrianmollusc/32/63_2.png) [@Precambrianmollusc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Precambrianmollusc)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2021, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-gaetz-being-investigated-for-sex-with-17-year-old-girl-doj-declines-to-charge-2023-02-15/939052/19 "2021-03-31T01:56:17Z")
Maybe he will claim he was going deep undercover to expose the Clinton pizza pedophile cabal from Mars. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2021, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-gaetz-being-investigated-for-sex-with-17-year-old-girl-doj-declines-to-charge-2023-02-15/939052/20 "2021-03-31T03:03:12Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > Oh, I’m going to miss that shouting, grimacing, grandstanding photo-op douchebag asshole. Oh no you won’t. You just have to know where to look. And, at the same time, Gaetz is contemplating leaving Congress after his current term (or even sooner maybe) to begin his new career as a talking head on Newsmax. Totally coincidentalwockle, of course. You knew that. > **[Is Florida’s most devoted Trump supporter Matt Gaetz thinking about quitting...](https://www.sun-sentinel.com/2021/03/30/is-floridas-most-devoted-trump-supporter-matt-gaetz-thinking-about-quitting-congress-for-a-gig-with-newsmax/)** > > U.S. Congressman Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., has spent so much time making cable TV appearances that he had a TV studio installed at his father’s house in the Florida Panhandle. > TV appearances are so appealing to Gaetz that he’s… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-gaetz-being-investigated-for-sex-with-17-year-old-girl-doj-declines-to-charge-2023-02-15/939052.md?page=2)