The woman at the center of the DOJ's probe of Matt Gaetz testified to the House Ethics Committee that he had sex with her when she was 17 years old, sources say.
    • hddsx@lemmy.ca
      45·
      5 months ago

      What the hell are you talking about?

      The president-elect has no idea what Gaetz looks like. The president-elect doesn’t even know Gaetz. The president-elect has never considered Gaetz for AG. The president-elect and Gaetz have never met.

      • Serinus@lemmy.world
        39·
        5 months ago

        For the uninformed, this is funny (and sarcasm) because there’s mountains of evidence of them together. Besides, you know, picking him for AG. But he tries this defense all the time anyway, and people actually believe it.

        Just like explicitly Trump calling up members of Congress to kill the bipartisan border bill, and then blaming the Democrats for not passing a border bill. They sold that one on the campaign trail too, and it worked.

        Sources

        • Queen HawlSera@lemm.eeEnglish
          18·
          5 months ago

          To be fair Tim Walz tried to point out that Trump voted down the Border Bill… and everyone just laughed at him and called him Tampon Tim because America is currently in its “Too Dumb To Live” phase

        • prole
          4·
          5 months ago

          People don’t actually believe it, they’re just looking for an opportunity to give themselves plausible deniability. To let themselves off the hook for being complete pieces of shit.

        • hddsx@lemmy.ca
          4·
          5 months ago

          Thank you. I don’t mark my sarcasm and I thought I was going to get my post removed for misinformation again lol

          • Serinus@lemmy.world
            3·
            5 months ago

            Yeah, there’s another one not marked that’s been up for hours. “Tulsi Gabbard to be Director of National Security.” Yeah, okay. Funny joke.

            • hddsx@lemmy.ca
              2·
              5 months ago

              It looks like your memory doesn’t extend before 2020. If you can recall further, you will remember that jokes in the 2020+ era may not be considered jokes in the 2016-2020 era

  • Rapidcreek@lemmy.worldOP
    126·
    5 months ago

    The article mentions that he paid her to have sex with him at a party. That also makes it a sex trafficking crime. Also, IANAL but if the jurisdiction had an age of consent lower than 18, the sex trafficking part might negate that.

    Also, Gaetz, who was born in 1982, was 35 at the time – double her age and well outside the limits of any potential Romeo & Juliet laws.

    • TimLovesTech (AuDHD)(he/him)@badatbeing.socialEnglish
      23·
      5 months ago

      These parties were also said to be full of drugs (in addition to alcohol), which one could argue blurs any consent, especially when your looking at a 35/yr old man wanting to pay a 17/yr girl for sex. He was also a congressman by then, which also makes this a very lopsided power dynamic when arguing consent with a possibly intoxicated underage girl.

      The woman’s allegation regarding Gaetz became part of the investigation following claims by Greenberg, a former friend of Gaetz who is currently serving an 11-year prison sentence after reaching a deal with investigators in May 2021 in which he pleaded guilty to multiple federal crimes, including sex trafficking of the woman when she was a minor and introducing her to other “adult men” who also had sex with her when she was underage.

      This part also make one more inclined to believe this has something to it, and probably more women that aren’t coming forward because of all the death threats and toxicity projected at victims.

      AND HE IS SUPPOSED TO BE OUR NEW AG!!

    • NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world
      4·
      5 months ago

      Why would having sex at a party make it trafficking.

      It’s just paid for underage sex at a party.

      Unless she was trafficked at the party by someone else, but I don’t think that gets the person paying charged with trafficking? That would get the person who trafficked her that charge.

    • jordanlund@lemmy.worldM
      2·
      5 months ago

      Wasn’t he older than that? I saw some other article stating this was 2 years ago when he would have been 40…

      • FoxyFerengi@lemm.ee
        4·
        5 months ago

        Florida started investigating him for this crime, which occurred in 2016, in 2019. In 2021 the House Ethics Committee started investigating, but they paused because the justice department was already investigating.

        It’s a very confusing timeline

            • Jerkface (any/all)@lemmy.caEnglish
              4·
              5 months ago

              “Pedophilia” is a psychological term, not a legal one. Perhaps you are looking for “rape.”

              Treating “pedophile” as a synonym for “child molester” is like treating “schizophrenic” as a synonym for “axe murder”. Using psychological conditions as slurs and everyday metaphors is harmful.

            • marx2k@lemmy.world
              3·
              5 months ago

              Explain how I’m wrong? Or did you think banging a 17 year old is literally pedophilia?

              It’s annoying when right wing weirdos label everyone that disagrees with them a pedo, it’s not any less annoying when it’s done by everyone else.

              • Kichae@lemmy.caEnglish
                2·
                5 months ago

                Arguing that wanting to have sex with a minor is anything but is a take, and definitely has me glad Boost supports user tagging.

      • Norah (pup/it/she)English
        8·
        5 months ago

        Not even a crime in most states: https://www.jagranjosh.com/general-knowledge/age-of-consent-in-each-us-state-1701408847-1

        (This is coming from an Aussie where 16 is the AoC in all states. We have exceptions that make it 18 if the other party has a duty of care tho)

        Edit: I should add that it’s still fucking creepy and weird when an older man does this. Just, not pedophilia, and not by default (statutory) rape in most places. Unlike what the people in this thread seem to think.

        It’s almost like we shouldn’t water down such serious terms by lumping everything in with it.

          • Norah (pup/it/she)English
            2·
            5 months ago

            There’s not an answer I can give that is going to satisfy you, so what’s the point in me giving you one?

              • Norah (pup/it/she)English
                2·
                5 months ago

                I already gave the “obvious right answer”:

                Edit: I should add that it’s still fucking creepy and weird when an older man does this. Just, not pedophilia, and not by default (statutory) rape in most places. Unlike what the people in this thread seem to think.

          • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
            8·
            5 months ago

            Indeed they do. And since you seem to be under the impression that those definitions do not change, please define ‘silly’ for me as it was defined when it began to be used in late Middle English.

            I feel you’re being silly regardless of the early or current definition of the word, but I’m betting you also don’t use the word that way.

          • pyre@lemmy.world
            1·
            5 months ago

            based on how people use them, not ordained by the gods of language. people say pedophile to mean someone who rapes a minor.

            • marx2k@lemmy.world
              1·
              5 months ago

              I mean you can also say someone is a murderer of they eat cabbage, but you’d be wrong.

              Calling everyone you dislike a pedo is as lame as calling everyone you dislike a commie or Hitler.

              Seriously… having sex with or raping a 17 year old doesn’t make you a pedophile. It makes you a statutory rapist. That’s bad enough without having to make dumb shit up as an insult.

              I’m surprised and disappointed so many on lemmy are falling into that sort of weak bullshit but… here we are

              • pyre@lemmy.world
                1·
                5 months ago

                what you should be disappointed in is not being able to make an argument without strawmanning multiple times.

                what you’re doing is just refusing to cooperate on language that’s already obvious and widely understood. it’s bad faith.

                • marx2k@lemmy.world
                  1·
                  5 months ago

                  I’ve made the argument countless times. If you want to call raping a 17 year old pedophilia, that’s up to you. I’m not going to call a swimming pool a lake.

  • Wren@lemmy.world
    57·
    5 months ago

    That should probably give him a huge assist within trump’s regime. They seem to love that type of thing.

      • prole
        6·
        5 months ago

        Partly, to make the House drop their investigation because he’s no longer a member…

        I knew it was going to be bad, but holy shit…

        I’ve also noticed nobody has even mentioned EPA. My guess is that he will just do away with it altogether.

    • tempest@lemmy.ca
      3·
      5 months ago

      For sure, nothing better than a sycophant lackey except a sycophant lackey they have dirt on, ask Putin.

  • BrianTheeBiscuiteer@lemmy.world
    47·
    5 months ago

    “These allegations are invented and would constitute false testimony to Congress,” Gaetz said in response to ABC News’ reporting.

    AG Gaetz has his first case all lined up doesn’t he?

  • CharlesDarwin@lemmy.worldEnglish
    44·
    5 months ago

    So, we are going to have an actual child-fucker as AG.

    Republicans, “the party of law and order”.

    🤣

    Btw, if there is anyone that I would believe would feed on adrenochrome…just look at Gaetz. Sure, the adrenochrome thing is just rehashed antisemitic blood libel bullshit, but I could see Gaetz maybe trying it out to see…

    • jordanlund@lemmy.worldM
      13·
      5 months ago

      Hey, the President is an adjuducated rapist with 34 felony convictions, why should the AG be clean?

      • anon6789@lemmy.world
        16·
        5 months ago

        I went to look at your comment. I’ll be polite and summarize it instead of sharing the exact quote.

        I was 18 and had a 17 year old girlfriend and we had a ton of sex. That’s what 17 year olds do.

        If you don’t understand how the power dynamics are different between 2 nobodies of similar age vs a 17 year old and a 38 year old federal representative and his local gov buddy, you may want to read some things written about consent written in the last decade.

        When I was 17, someone almost 40 was considered old as hell.

        Edit: Article on coercion vs consent

        They had her out of state, where she likely didn’t really know where she was, likely had no one to get help from if she felt she was in a bad situation, and was there with very much more adult authority figures, and there were drugs at the party, so she may have also been under the influence.

        You also can’t fault someone for taking time to want to testify. She probably felt at least partially responsible, and he is a national figure. It takes time to get up courage to open yourself up to the whole world getting a chance to say things like you must have wanted it or did something to deserve it.

      • prole
        4·
        5 months ago

        When is the last time you tried to communicate with a 17 year old, as an adult? It you have anything in common with someone like that, then you’re creepy.

    • NatakuNox@lemmy.world
      5·
      5 months ago

      There are many credible accusations against Trump being a pedophile. So why would his AG be any different?

  • werefreeatlast@lemmy.world
    11·
    5 months ago

    Rapists are paying close attention…a phrase that is now a normal thing one would expect to be said on radio and TV news.

  • ageek@lemmy.world
    7·
    5 months ago

    I wouldn’t be surprised if Trump comes out and says that you have to be good at breaking the law before you can apply it

    • ChronosTriggerWarning@lemmy.world
      3·
      5 months ago

      I’d say that he’s the adult version of Butthead in the reboot of Beavis and Butthead. But i gotta ask: what does sane Jack Torrance look like…?

  • BenLeMan@lemmy.world
    3·
    5 months ago

    I don’t even know why things like this get posted anymore when we all know it doesn’t make one lick of a difference.