Tag: matt gaetz

Trump’s First Pick For Attorney General Says Marijuana Rescheduling Is ‘On The Horizon’

Former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL)—President Donald Trump’s first pick for U.S. attorney general this term before he withdrew from consideration—says “meaningful” marijuana reform is “on the horizon” under the current administration, praising the president’s “leadership” in supporting rescheduling.

In an op-ed published by The Tampa Bay Times on Thursday, Gaetz said that moving cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) “won’t solve every problem overnight, but it is a necessary step in the right direction.” And he expressed confidence that Trump will bring about that reform.

The former lawmaker’s column omits mention of the fact that former President Joe Biden initiated the rescheduling review that led federal agencies to recommend the reclassification. And while it’s true that, during his 2024 campaign, Trump endorsed the policy change in a social media post, he has not publicly discussed marijuana issues since taking office.

In any case, Gaetz said today “there is meaningful change finally on the horizon, thanks to President Donald Trump and his leadership in supporting the rescheduling of cannabis from a Schedule I drug to a Schedule III drug.”

Gaetz said he’s “always believed that marijuana laws should be rooted in science, not stigma,” citing his work to advance reform during his time in the Florida House and Congress.

However, he seemed to mischaracterize his contribution to the issue in the state legislature, claiming he introduced legislation at the time to “legalize marijuana because I understood that our outdated federal policies were failing patients, veterans and businesses.” Gaetz did sponsor a limited medical cannabis bill, but not a full-out legalization measure. In Congress, he was one of the sole GOP votes to support a Democrat-led federal legalization bill, however.

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House Probe Into Matt Gaetz Relies On Witnesses DOJ Found Lacked Credibility

The last eight years at the Department of Justice have been a disaster for the rule of law. The sprawling intelligence and law enforcement agency ran the Russia collusion hoax, hamstringing President Donald Trump during his entire first term in office.

It interfered in the 2020 election by falsely telling social media companies that a laptop with incriminating information about the Biden family business was Russian disinformation, and telling them to censor speech and debate about the topic. Under President Joe Biden, the department ran two norm-obliterating politicized prosecutions against Trump in an effort to silence, bankrupt, imprison, and defeat him.

Instead of rooting out the corruption at the department, most of permanent D.C. did absolutely nothing in response. Yet somehow the chattering class was shocked when Trump nominated loyal foot soldier Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fl., to be attorney general in Trump’s second term and to fix DOJ.

Gaetz had proven to be one of the most effective advocates against corruption at DOJ and was unwilling to back down in the face of overwhelming public pressure. However, Gaetz does not fit the education or experience profile of many previous attorneys general and has limited experience practicing law.

Many Americans are sick and tired of elected officials and media pundits doing nothing as DOJ attempted to destroy the country with its abuse of the rule of law. Among the many powerful figures in Washington, D.C. opposed to the Gaetz nomination are some who are attempting to thwart it by releasing a report from the House Ethics Committee that will attempt to tie Gaetz to salacious allegations involving child sex trafficking.

The report comes years after DOJ dropped its investigation into the same claims on the grounds that the two central witnesses had serious credibility issues. Yet these are the same two central witnesses the House Ethics Committee has relied on for its critical report of Gaetz—the same report it is leaking to compliant reporters as part of a coordinated effort to thwart his nomination as President-elect Donald Trump’s next attorney general.

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Trump Taps Pro-Marijuana Legalization Congressman Matt Gaetz For U.S. Attorney General

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) is President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to serve as the next U.S. attorney general—a selection that would put one of the only GOP members of Congress who actively supports and voted for marijuana legalization into the nation’s top law enforcement position.

As Trump works to put together his cabinet, the choice of Gaetz stands out as one of the most positive signals that the state-level cannabis marketplace will not be impeded under his administration. And it also bodes well for the ongoing Biden administration-led marijuana rescheduling effort that Trump has endorsed.

Gaetz was one of three Republican members of the House to approve a Democratic-led bill to federally legalize marijuana, titled the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act in 2022. He also supported a prior version of the legislation despite his concerns with equity-focused provisions.

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MATT GAETZ’S LEGISLATIVE AIDE IS A CONVICTED WAR CRIMINAL

DERRICK MILLER, a former U.S. Army National Guard sergeant who spent eight years in prison for murdering an Afghan civilian in 2010, now serves as a legislative assistant covering military policy for Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz.

While on a combat mission in Afghanistan’s Laghman province on September 26, 2010, Miller shot 27-year-old Atta Mohammed in the head during an interrogation. Miller has maintained that he was acting in self-defense, alleging that Mohammed, who had walked through a defensive perimeter established by Miller’s unit, could be a threat to his unit and that he had tried to grab Miller’s weapon during the interrogation. But another National Guard member testified he heard Miller threaten to kill Mohammed if he did not tell the truth; and then sat on top of him — Mohammed was lying prone — before shooting him in the head, killing him. According to the prosecutor, Miller then said, “I shot him. He was a liar.”

Mohammed’s body was left in a latrine, in violation of military standards.

Miller covers armed forces and national security, international affairs, and veterans affairs for Gaetz, according to the Congress-tracking website LegiStorm. Gaetz serves on the House Armed Services Committee.

“We proudly stand with our Military Legislative Assistant Derrick Miller,” Joel Valdez, a spokesperson for Gaetz, told The Intercept. “He was wrongfully convicted and served our country with honor.”

Miller did not respond to a request for comment.

“Over the course of nearly a decade, members of Congress, multiple advocacy groups, and over 16,000 individuals on a petition have all signaled their support for clearing his name and recognizing him as innocent of charges imposed by a weaponized military injustice system under President Obama,” the spokesperson continued. “Mr. Miller advises our office on many matters, including ways to make the military justice system consistent with our constitutional principles and values.”

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Former camera operator for ABC, NBC, and CNN arrested for threatening to kill Matt Gaetz

A longtime camera operator for ABC, CNN, NBC, and other outlets was arrested last week for threatening to kill Rep Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and his family days after the January 6 riot at the US Capitol. Meanwhile, another man who recently threatened Rep. Gaetz is still on the streets after the Department of Justice blocked the US Capitol Police’s recommendation for arrest.

According to court documents, law enforcement arrested Eugene “Gene” Huelsman, 58, in the Los Angeles on an indictment returned in May by a federal grand jury in Pensacola, Florida.

According to Fox News, Huelsman has worked for decades as a camera operator for various films and television networks including ABC and CNN. He even received five Emmy nominations for his work on NBC’s Late Night with Conan O’Brien.

The indictment does not mention Gaetz by name, but Federal prosecutors said that on January 9, Huelsman called the office a person named “MG” in the indictment and made threat.

According to the indictment, Huelsman allegedly said, “Tell (MG) to watch his back, tell him to watch his children… I’m coming for him… I’m gonna f—ing kill him… I’m gonna put a bullet in you and I’m gonna put a bullet in one of your f—ing kids too.”

Gaetz told Politico that he was the intended target.

Last Wednesday, Gaetz, on the House floor, described threats made against him by another individual who threatened to kill him over Twitter and had traveled to Washington DC in order to do so.

“I think someone may be trying to kill me and if they are successful I would like my constituents and my family to know who stopped their arrest.”

Gaetz claimed that the Department of Justice declined to arrest the individual even though the Capitol Police allegedly recommended doing so.

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The Media’s Matt Gaetz Source – Joel Greenberg – Just Pleaded Guilty To Making FALSE Pedophilia Allegations About His Opponents.

Did you know the guy behind the Matt Gaetz allegations just pleaded guilty to making false allegations about sex with a minor about another of his political opponents? The media doesn’t seem to want to report this part of the case, which is available for anyone who wants to read it in Joel Greenberg’s plea deal released on Monday.

Greenberg, a Florida tax collector in Seminole County, pleaded guilty this week to a series of crimes. The corporate media is reporting on his plea deal with prosecutors and the implications for firebrand Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz. But there’s something else you need to know, and the media don’t seem keen to tell people.

Greenberg is the only person making accusations about Rep. Gaetz right now – two months in – and there’s plenty of evidence to suggest his animosity is driven by Gaetz’s refusal to get involved in Greenberg’s demands for a pardon from President Trump.

But take a look at Count Twenty-Four in Greenberg’s deal. It’s stunning, and it goes right to the heart of the allegations being made – mostly on the far-left Daily Beast website – about Rep. Gaetz.

Count Twenty-Four, which Greenberg has pleaded guilty to, establishes that Greenberg is a malicious and habitual liar who uses web publications to make false, criminal allegations about his political adversaries.

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Matt Gaetz’s Wingman Claims the Congressman Paid for Sex With a 17-Year-Old

Matt Gaetz is back in the news, a now-frequent occurrence which, despite the all-press-is-good-press ethos around which he built his political career, hasn’t exactly been a boon to the Florida congressman’s brand over the past month or so.

The Daily Beast reported Thursday night that it obtained a letter in which Joel Greenberg, Gaetz’s now notorious running buddy, admitted that he and the embattled congressman paid a 17-year-old girl for sex. The letter was sent to former Trump adviser Roger Stone as part of an attempt to get him to lobby the then-president for a pardon. Stone confirmed to The Daily Beast that Greenberg had indeed sought his help in securing a pardon, and that he asked Greenberg to provide him with “a document explaining his prosecution.”

Greenberg has been charged with a mind-boggling array of crimes, leading to his resignation last summer as Seminole County, Florida’s tax collector. The 33 charges against Greenberg include stalking, identity theft, embezzling taxpayer money, and sex-trafficking a 17-year-old girl. The New York Times reported last month that federal authorities are currently investigating whether Gaetz sex-trafficked the very same minor.

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Leaked Texts From Israeli Consulate Employee Show More Details In Gaetz-Levinson Funding Scheme

Three screenshots of texts between Scott Adams, creator of Dilbert, and Jake Novak, media director of the Israeli consulate in New York City were shared with TAC. The messages were authenticated by one of the parties to them.

In the first screenshot, Novak messaged Adams last Saturday to tell him about the investigation into Gaetz. The New York Times story on the Gaetz investigation was not published until Tuesday.

In the second, Novak appears to represent himself as deeply involved in the efforts to free Bob Levinson from Iran, telling Adams “this is screwing up my efforts to free Bob Levinson.”

“Gaetz’s dad was secretly finding [sic] us,” he continues. “So I’m very much wanting this to be untrue. I’ve got a commando team leader friend of mine nervously waiting for the wire transfers to clear.”

In the third screenshot, Novak casts doubt on Gaetz’s claims that he is being extorted. “The real documents do not extort,” he writes, “And we only asked for $25 million as an estimate at first. We came way down.”

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Matt Gaetz advocated drug-testing recipients of public assistance, but a new report alleges the lawmaker used ecstasy

A New York Times report about a Justice Department investigation into GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida includes an allegation that the lawmaker took the drug ecstasy before sexual encounters.

The Times report, published Thursday, described several unnamed sources as saying Gaetz had paid women for sex. Two sources told The Times that some of the people involved, including Gaetz, had used ecstasy beforehand.

Gaetz has denied ever paying for sex and has said that all the allegations against him are false.

During his time in Florida’s Legislature, Gaetz advocated requiring recipients of public assistance to pass a drug test.

“I strongly support drug-testing for welfare recipients,” Gaetz said in a tweet in March 2011, when he was in Florida’s House of Representatives. “Applying for welfare is voluntary, if you don’t want to get tested don’t apply.”

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Matt Gaetz case gets more bizarre as extortion claim involves search for missing ex-FBI agent Robert Levinson

Details surrounding the claim by Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., that he is the victim of an extortion plot involving allegations of a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old now portend to connect it to a search for an FBI agent who went missing in Iran 14 years ago.

According to documents obtained and reported by the Washington Examiner, Gaetz’s family was approached by former Air Force intelligence officer Bob Kent, who claimed that he had located former agent Robert Levinson, whose family presumed him to be dead. Kent reportedly sought a $25 million loan to fund an operation to rescue Levinson, and promised to help the congressman with legal woes in return.

“In exchange for the funds being arranged, and upon the release of Mr. Levinson, the team that delivers Mr. Levinson to the President of The United States shall strongly advocate that President Biden issue a Presidential Pardon, or instruct the Department of Justice to terminate any and all investigations involving Congressman Gaetz,” said the document Kent reportedly gave Gaetz’s father, which bore the heading “Project Homecoming.”

The document stated that Rep. Gaetz was “currently under investigation by the FBI for various public corruption and public integrity issues.” It goes on to allege that the FBI has learned of images of Gaetz in a “sexual orgy with underage prostitutes.”

The document reportedly calls for Gaetz’s father to place $25 million in a trust account of law firm Beggs & Land, bearing the name of Levinson family attorney anf former federal prosecutor David McGee.

Gaetz has denied any allegations of wrongdoing and claimed that he was the target of an extortion attempt folllowing a Tuesday New York Times report that said Gaetz is currently the subject of a federal sex trafficking investigation involving a then-17-year-old girl.

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