Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) was already facing a Justice Department investigation. As of this afternoon, he’s facing a House Ethics Committee investigation, too.
In a statement announcing the investigation into Gaetz, the committee said it is aware of public allegations that the GOP lawmaker “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.”
As a rule, congressional ethics probes take a while, and are conducted entirely behind closed doors. That said, once the investigation is complete, the Ethics Committee’s findings can include recommendations for harsh consequences.
Then again, if federal prosecutors file charges against the congressman, the Ethics Committee will be the least of the GOP lawmaker’s troubles.
With all of these lines of inquiry into his alleged misconduct — Gaetz has denied any wrongdoing — it stands to reason the Florida Republican will need some lawyers representing his interests. With this in mind, CNBC also reported this morning:
Rep. Matt Gaetz has hired two top New York defense lawyers — one of whom currently represents the Trump Organization in an ongoing criminal probe — to represent him as the Florida Republican faces a federal sex trafficking investigation. The retention of the Trump firm’s lawyer Marc Mukasey is noteworthy not only for Mukasey’s track record of handling serious criminal cases but also because Gaetz is among former President Donald Trump’s most ardent defenders.
Note, Mukasey is former U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey’s son, and is also known as a Rudy Giuliani protégé.
Gaetz has also hired the services of a D.C.-based public-relations firm called the Logan Circle Group. All of this, of course, comes the day after accused sex trafficker Joel Greenberg, one of the congressman’s close friends, moved closer to a plea agreement with federal prosecutors, which was news Gaetz probably didn’t want to see. In case all of this weren’t quite enough, Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) late yesterday became the first congressional Republican to call for Gaetz’s resignation. Other GOP lawmakers have quietly celebrated his crises, though for now, they prefer to remain anonymous.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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