# 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:** 27
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2021, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-gaetz-being-investigated-for-sex-with-17-year-old-girl-doj-declines-to-charge-2023-02-15/939052/524 "2021-08-22T03:11:13Z")
Somewhere, Bill Clinton is shaking his head a little and chuckling appreciatively. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2021, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-gaetz-being-investigated-for-sex-with-17-year-old-girl-doj-declines-to-charge-2023-02-15/939052/525 "2021-08-22T21:17:05Z")
And the big news: # Matt Gaetz Elopes to California, Marries Girlfriend U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida eloped to Southern California, marrying his girlfriend Ginger Luckey in a small ceremony on Catalina Island. [https://nbc-2.com/news/2021/08/22/matt-gaetz-elopes-to-california-marries-ginger-luckey/](https://nbc-2.com/news/2021/08/22/matt-gaetz-elopes-to-california-marries-ginger-luckey/) And I thought he was going to marry the 17 year old–as a wife cannot be compelled to testify against her husband. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2021, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-gaetz-being-investigated-for-sex-with-17-year-old-girl-doj-declines-to-charge-2023-02-15/939052/526 "2021-08-22T21:24:52Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida eloped to Southern California, marrying his girlfriend Ginger Luckey in a small ceremony on Catalina Island. - Since it’s traditional for the wife to take the husband’s last name, she’s Un-Luckey in more ways than one. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2021, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-gaetz-being-investigated-for-sex-with-17-year-old-girl-doj-declines-to-charge-2023-02-15/939052/527 "2021-08-22T21:36:18Z")
Her name is going to sound like a political scandal, as it should. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2021, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-gaetz-being-investigated-for-sex-with-17-year-old-girl-doj-declines-to-charge-2023-02-15/939052/528 "2021-08-22T22:07:07Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Since it’s traditional for the wife to take the husband’s last name, she’s Un-Luckey in more ways than one. By going from “Ginger Luckey” to “Ginger Gaetz”, she managed to make her name sound even **more** like a porn actress screen name. ---
**Author:** ![allyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ec9cab/32.png) [@allyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/allyn)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2021, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-gaetz-being-investigated-for-sex-with-17-year-old-girl-doj-declines-to-charge-2023-02-15/939052/529 "2021-08-22T22:10:49Z")
Maybe hyphenated? “Ginger Gaetz-Lucky”… ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2021, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-gaetz-being-investigated-for-sex-with-17-year-old-girl-doj-declines-to-charge-2023-02-15/939052/530 "2021-08-22T22:52:22Z")
I’ll admit it, this is where my impertinent brain went. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2021, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-gaetz-being-investigated-for-sex-with-17-year-old-girl-doj-declines-to-charge-2023-02-15/939052/531 "2021-08-22T23:15:07Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > We’ve seen other scandalous news stories from time to time over the years, in which a male-and-female couple perpetrates unmentionable horrors that involve sexual abuses of females by the male party, with no clear reason what’s in it for the female participating perp. > > (Can’t recall any names or details to search for a cite right now. Maybe I’ll come up with something. Maybe.) I’ve read that Jean Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir had a pretty sick thing going, where when they were both older she would do lesbian seductions of much younger women and lure them back to Sartre for him to use sexually, with both of them glorying in the lascivious details and speaking scornfully of the women. I’ve never been able to respect the writings of either one since then. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2021, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-gaetz-being-investigated-for-sex-with-17-year-old-girl-doj-declines-to-charge-2023-02-15/939052/532 "2021-08-22T23:48:59Z")
Does that apply to things that happened before the nuptials? ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2021, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-gaetz-being-investigated-for-sex-with-17-year-old-girl-doj-declines-to-charge-2023-02-15/939052/533 "2021-08-23T00:43:33Z")
He posted on twitter a somewhat unflattering picture of her sleeping on the plane before the wedding. Her mouth was open and her head was lolling back. I can’t imagine being okay with him doing that. He’s such a putz. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2021, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-gaetz-being-investigated-for-sex-with-17-year-old-girl-doj-declines-to-charge-2023-02-15/939052/534 "2021-08-23T00:47:35Z")
Post of the day. 🏆 ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2021, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-gaetz-being-investigated-for-sex-with-17-year-old-girl-doj-declines-to-charge-2023-02-15/939052/535 "2021-08-23T00:52:24Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > Does that apply to things that happened before the nuptials? No, it doesn’t. " It covers communications made during the marriage, and cannot be invoked to protect confidential communications between currently married spouses which occurred prior to their marriage." > **[Spousal privilege](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spousal_privilege)** > > In the common law, spousal privilege (also called marital privilege or husband-wife privilege) is a term used in the law of evidence to describe two separate privileges that apply to spouses: the spousal communications privilege and the spousal testimonial privilege. > Both types of privilege are based on the policy of encouraging spousal harmony and preventing spouses from condemning , or be condemned by, their spouses: the spousal communications privilege or confidences privilege is a form of pr... But as a matter of practice I don’t think prosecuting attorneys prosecute this type of crime where they later marry. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2021, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-gaetz-being-investigated-for-sex-with-17-year-old-girl-doj-declines-to-charge-2023-02-15/939052/536 "2021-08-23T14:31:19Z")
> [@allyn](#): > > Maybe hyphenated? “Ginger Gaetz-Lucky”… For the win! ---
**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:** [August 24, 2021, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-gaetz-being-investigated-for-sex-with-17-year-old-girl-doj-declines-to-charge-2023-02-15/939052/537 "2021-08-24T18:45:05Z")
Maybe we should start a pool betting on what date the divorce will take place. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2021, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-gaetz-being-investigated-for-sex-with-17-year-old-girl-doj-declines-to-charge-2023-02-15/939052/538 "2021-08-24T18:53:30Z")
Would an annulment count for such a pool? ---
**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:** [August 24, 2021, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-gaetz-being-investigated-for-sex-with-17-year-old-girl-doj-declines-to-charge-2023-02-15/939052/539 "2021-08-24T19:07:55Z")
Sure, along with faking her own death and/or running off to a nunnery. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2021, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-gaetz-being-investigated-for-sex-with-17-year-old-girl-doj-declines-to-charge-2023-02-15/939052/540 "2021-08-26T23:10:24Z")
> [@mistymage](#): > > So from April to July… what’s going on that is taking so long to find out for sure what happened? The FBI needs to flirt with and threaten Gaetz and Greenberg into turning themselves in and providing information against the other. Following, they need to confirm the information given to them by the suspects (whose words are not implicitly held up as automatic truth and reliability), which means thinking up ways to independently confirm what they’ve been told, flirt/threaten some other folks, write up requests to a judge/grand jury for warrants, issue warrants to various banks and internet companies, schedule interviews with witnesses, do some legal research, etc. If these things are all somewhat dependent on one another, you can’t go to the next step until you’ve completed the previous step. Maybe the judge doesn’t have an opening for a hearing for two weeks, maybe he takes a week to issue a warrant, maybe Facebook has a two week turnaround on warrant responses, maybe your witness is out of town and can’t meet until next month, etc. If it’s taking a long time, probably Greenberg offered allegations of more criminal activities. In general, the more crimes you can pin on the guy, the more plausible it’s going to be that he is the sort of person to do all those things. If he says, “I thought she was 18.” The jury is a lot less likely to believe him if the FBI has pictures of him snorting coke and cheating on his taxes, regardless that those things are unrelated. And, in general, the more crimes you have evidence of the more you want to throw in just because a) that’s your job and b) you can never know which things the jury is going to find more compelling than other things. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2021, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-gaetz-being-investigated-for-sex-with-17-year-old-girl-doj-declines-to-charge-2023-02-15/939052/541 "2021-08-28T11:56:57Z")
Somewhat on-topic, my governor (Murphy of NJ) has been referring to Matt Gaetz as Matt Putz: > > > Rep. Matt Gaetz @RepMattGaetz I’m not going to say I approve of such childish name-calling by a governor, but I’m not going to say I don’t approve either… ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2021, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-gaetz-being-investigated-for-sex-with-17-year-old-girl-doj-declines-to-charge-2023-02-15/939052/542 "2021-08-31T16:18:16Z")
Understandable if not commendable for Gov. Murphy. And, given Covid numbers in Florida, I think it’s DeSantis who needs to consult with Murphy, and not the other way 'round. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2021, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-gaetz-being-investigated-for-sex-with-17-year-old-girl-doj-declines-to-charge-2023-02-15/939052/543 "2021-09-01T15:27:35Z")
Gaetz did what was really important for members of organized crime to do before getting married, [he got approval from his Don.](https://www.businessinsider.com/matt-gaetz-asked-for-trumps-approval-before-proposing-to-ginger-luckey-2021-8) > Rep. Matt Gaetz said he asked for former President Donald Trump’s approval before proposing to his now-wife Ginger Luckey, [with whom he eloped](https://www.businessinsider.com/matt-gaetz-ginger-luckey-elope-california-married-catalina-island-2021-8) over the weekend [amid a federal sex trafficking probe](https://www.businessinsider.com/matt-gaetz-timeline-allegations-sex-trafficking-joel-greenberg-doj-investigation-2021-5). > > The Florida Republican, 39, and Luckey, 26, met at a dinner at Mar-a-Lago in March 2020 and the two got engaged at the same Trump-owned resort on December 30, 2020. > > “You never want to upstage the big guy,” Gaetz [told Vanity Fair](https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/08/matt-gaetz-ginger-luckey-eloped), adding that Trump called him and his then-fiance “a dynamic duo” and sent a bottle of his company’s champagne to their table. [Previous 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=26) [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=28)