Is there any “good” here aside from the schadenfreude of seeing a particularly noxious GOP rep go down in flames? If he resigns, the noxious GOP governor will just name another noxious GOP rep to take his place, right? And not a single Florida GOP voter will reconsider their support for the party that nominated the creep.
I don’t think governors appoint rep replacements, only senators. There’s gonna be a special erection of he resigns.
Speak for yourself.
I wouldn’t be surprised if it could keep him out of jail, too, if people believed him. Strict liability doesn’t leave out prosecutorial discretion. And he could always argue that he never had sex with her.
But my point was that he’s already past the point where he’s incriminated himself. Any defense that might seem reasonable to anyone (legally or not) is out the window.
ISWYDT
But even so – will his district elect anyone less noxious?
Hey that’s a Ron White line. The commentator should give credit ehere it’s due. Source:
(NSFW language)
A brief poem about the congressman from Florida. Can also be sung to the tune of “Particle Man.” Possibly NSFW for language.
I’ve heard that line, or variants of it, about a million times. Starting decades ago.
It’s such an obvious line I don’t think one can say that any one particular comic is the author.
Drunk. In. Public. 
Are you Ron “Tater Salad” White?
You got me! You caught the Tater!
There are degrees of noxiousness, and this guy is off the scale, even by Republican standards. He’s about the equal of the orange shit-gibbon that he so enthusiastically defended – rotten to the core. Regardless of how he’s replaced, even Republicans can surely do better than this.
I haven’t. Without corroborating evidence, that’s a Ron White line. Nyah.
Constitutionally, Representatives must be elected so there will be a special election. It’s a district that went to Trump by 30 points, so there’s little doubt that Republicans will hold it.
You caught me. You caught the Tater!
Damnit. Should have read the rest of the thread. (I’ve seen this routine a number of times, and I do love it.)
“You can take the roadblocks down now.”
I skipped to the end, and, of course it is far from admirable, but isn’t sex with a 17 year old legal in New York?
The federal age of consent is 18. If the person is under 18 and considered a minor in one state for the purpose of sexual consent, and you transport that person to another state with a lower age of consent solely for the purpose of sexual relations, you trip federal jurisdiction. This is a Mann Act violation. I’m surprised, as an attorney, you were not aware of this.
Well, did he transport her? I’m an attorney but didn’t get a full statement of the facts, so I would appreciate holding off on the personal attack.
It’s not a personal attack at all. It’s genuine surprise. Whatever my opinion of your ideological stance, you are generally very careful and thoughtful when it comes to matters of law, so I was legitimately taken aback by the disconnect between your statement and the apparent background of the case.
But from your comment about not having a statement of the facts, perhaps you’re actually unaware of what’s being alleged. To wit — Gaetz is closely associated with this fellow Joel Greenberg, who has been rapidly accumulating a reputation as a thoroughgoing scumbag. Greenberg is under federal indictment for a wide range of offenses, including bribery, wire fraud, and identity theft, but most particularly to the current narrative, sex trafficking of a minor. Prior to his indictment, he held elected office in Florida and bragged of his social and political connections, including to Gaetz. There is now apparently evidence in the hands of federal investigators that Greenberg procured the services of prostitutes for Gaetz, with some below Florida’s age of consent. Gaetz has attempted to defend himself by claiming he was simply “generous” to his romantic partners, paying for their hotel rooms and airfare as they traveled with him. In his now-notorious interview with Tucker Carlson, he said he had brought one of these women to meet Carlson over dinner (which Carlson denied remembering).
Is this helpful?