On Friday, the House Ethics Committee announced an investigation into the allegations against Rep. Matt Gaetz. Here is part of their statement:

The Committee is aware of public allegations that Representative Matt Gaetz may have engaged in sexual misconduct and/or illicit drug use, shared inappropriate images or videos on the House floor, misused state identification records, converted campaign funds to personal use, and/or accepted a bribe, improper gratuity, or impermissible gift, in violation of House Rules, laws, or other standards of conduct.  The Committee, pursuant to Committee Rule 18(a), has begun an investigation and will gather additional information regarding the allegations.

Rep. Adam Kinzinger has also become the first Republican member of Congress to say, “Matt Gaetz needs to resign.” This comes after the latest damning report involving the Florida Congressman. The Daily Beast writes about suspicious Venmo transactions they claim to have examined:

In two late-night Venmo transactions in May 2018, Rep. Matt Gaetz sent his friend, the accused sex trafficker Joel Greenberg, $900. The next morning, over the course of eight minutes, Greenberg used the same app to send three young women varying sums of money. In total, the transactions amounted to $900.

The memo field for the first of Gaetz’s transactions to Greenberg was titled “Test.” In the second, the Florida GOP congressman wrote “hit up ___.” But instead of a blank, Gaetz wrote a nickname for one of the recipients. (The Daily Beast is not sharing that nickname because the teenager had only turned 18 less than six months before.) When Greenberg then made his Venmo payments to these three young women, he described the money as being for “Tuition,” “School,” and “School.”

This report came hours after Greenberg was in court, where it appeared he is ready to reach an agreement to cooperate with prosecutors. After the hearing, Greenberg’s attorney said, “I am sure Matt Gaetz is not feeling very comfortable today.” 

Meanwhile The New York Times is reporting a second senior aide to Gaetz “abruptly quit.”

The aide, Devin Murphy, resigned as Mr. Gaetz’s legislative director on Friday. He told associates that he was interested in writing bills, not working at TMZ — equating the work that Mr. Gaetz’s aides were now handling to the tabloid publication, according to one of the people, who all asked not to be identified discussing a sensitive personnel matter.

As all these reports continue to surface, Politico is reporting, “A boutique conservative consultancy group working on behalf of Rep. Matt Gaetz is threatening to sue journalists for their coverage of the embattled congressman.”

Gaetz is also said to be adding to his legal team.

Late Friday, Gaetz spoke at a ‘Women for America First’ event at Trump Doral in Miami, Florida.

 

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