{"id":1657759,"date":"2022-09-26T06:47:50","date_gmt":"2022-09-26T10:47:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1657759"},"modified":"2022-09-26T09:39:55","modified_gmt":"2022-09-26T13:39:55","slug":"the-fbis-matt-gaetz-operation-sidelined-an-effective-republican-voice-at-a-crucial-time-that-was-the-point","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-fbis-matt-gaetz-operation-sidelined-an-effective-republican-voice-at-a-crucial-time-that-was-the-point\/","title":{"rendered":"The FBI\u2019s Matt Gaetz Operation Sidelined An Effective Republican Voice At A Crucial Time. That Was The Point."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">36<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fthe-fbis-matt-gaetz-operation-sidelined-an-effective-republican-voice-at-a-crucial-time-that-was-the-point%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1657759&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><\/div>\n<p>Prior to March 2021, Rep. Matt Gaetz was known for prominently pushing against Beltway groupthink.<\/p>\n<p>The colorful Florida congressman had been one of the few Republicans to help win the public relations battle against the Russia collusion hoax, the conspiracy theory that President Donald Trump had stolen the 2016 election by colluding with Russia.<\/p>\n<p>When Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., held secret hearings, selectively released information, and lied about coordination with the so-called whistleblower during the Ukraine impeachment hearings, Gaetz led a group of Republican congressmen <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ScottThuman\/status\/1187023336255250433?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">in protest<\/a>. The move, which enraged the corporate media and other partisans, <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2019\/10\/25\/gop-has-a-choice-fight-anti-trump-coup-effort-or-surrender-government-to-democrats\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">helped unify Republicans<\/a> in their eventual defeat of the impeachment stunt.<\/p>\n<p>Following the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol, Gaetz defended concerns about election integrity, reminded Democrats of their support of nationwide riots the preceding summer, and criticized media and political overreaction to the rioters. He remains one of the very few Republicans to focus on the plight facing the men and women the Justice Department are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rev.com\/blog\/transcripts\/marjorie-taylor-greene-matt-gaetz-press-conference-after-trying-to-see-january-6-prisoners\">targeting<\/a>, just years after the department largely ignored the destructive nationwide riots that besieged the White House, federal courthouses, police precincts, and national monuments.<\/p>\n<p>When Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., received praise from Beltway insiders for leading a small group of Republicans to join the Democrats\u2019 second impeachment of President Trump, Gaetz immediately went to Wyoming to rally Republicans. The two had repeatedly sparred over Cheney\u2019s support for lengthy and poorly managed foreign wars that Gaetz said did not serve American interests.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are in a battle for the soul of the Republican Party, and I intend to win it,\u201d he said at a Jan. 28, 2021, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2021\/01\/28\/politics\/gaetz-cheney-rally-cheyenne-republican-reaction\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">rally in Cheyenne<\/a>, long before she would be ousted from her leadership position in the House Republican conference. \u201cYou can help me break a corrupt system. You can send a representative who actually represents you, and you can send Liz Cheney home \u2014 back home to Washington, D.C.\u201d Harriet Hageman delivered a <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/08\/18\/analysis-if-not-for-democrat-voters-cheneys-loss-would-have-been-even-more-devastating\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">humiliating primary defeat<\/a> of Cheney less than two years later.<\/p>\n<p>Gaetz was a frequent fixture on television, reportedly averaging <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/opinion\/columnists\/zurawik\/bs-ed-zontv-0406-gaetz-fox-news-20210406-2sbf53wdbrgfzpgqixz5dtejbq-story.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">87 minutes a month on air<\/a> during the 12 months prior to the end of March 2021. He was even considering leaving Congress to take a job as a cable news host.<\/p>\n<p>Then on March 30, 2021, all that changed with the publication of an anonymously sourced report accusing him of possibly being a child sex trafficker.<\/p>\n<p>A group of New York Times reporters who won awards for their roles pushing the Russia collusion lie penned an anonymously sourced article with a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/03\/30\/us\/politics\/matt-gaetz-sex-trafficking-investigation.html?searchResultPosition=24\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">devastating headline<\/a>: \u201cMatt Gaetz Is Said to Face Justice Dept. Inquiry Over Sex With an Underage Girl.\u201d The story was sourced to \u201cthree people briefed on the matter,\u201d none of them identified in any way. The story contained no evidence against Gaetz of sex crimes, but much guilt-by-association. Late in the story, the pack of reporters admitted that no charges had been filed and that the \u201cextent of his criminal exposure is unclear.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Gaetz strenuously and immediately asserted his innocence and denied the accusations.<\/p>\n<h2>The Damage Was Done<\/h2>\n<p>On Friday, 18 months after he was accused of being a pedophile and child sex trafficker, the Washington Post <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/national-security\/2022\/09\/23\/gaetz-no-charges-sex-trafficking\/\">published<\/a> another anonymously sourced report. \u201cCareer prosecutors recommend no charges for Matt Gaetz,\u201d said the article, published quietly on a Friday. Not only was he never convicted of any of the crimes he was alleged to have committed, he wasn\u2019t even charged. And, if you believe the anonymously sourced claims, he isn\u2019t going to be.<\/p>\n<p>The damage was already done by the initial report, written by reporters who regularly regurgitate political leaks from Department of Justice and FBI sources.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMatt Gaetz\u2019s days in politics are likely numbered,\u201d one CNN reporter <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2021\/04\/02\/politics\/matt-gaetz-florida-trump\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">claimed<\/a> days after the initial report, noting how few people had come to his defense.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, as even The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/politics\/2021\/03\/31\/matt-gaetz-allegation-explained\/?itid=mr_politics_2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Washington Post admitted<\/a>, \u201cGaetz\u2019s position is shaky. The allegations are of a sort that makes it very difficult for his colleagues to come to his defense. \u2026 [T]here\u2019s an obvious political risk to vocally defending someone who might face sex-trafficking charges, so expect his political allies (including the former president) to remain fairly muted.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That was the goal of the politicized leaks. Gaetz couldn\u2019t very well critique the Department of Justice for their political prosecutions if he was a pariah who everyone thought was a pedophile.<\/p>\n<p>On the year anniversary of the original Gaetz story, journalist <a href=\"https:\/\/greenwald.substack.com\/p\/nyt-painted-matt-gaetz-as-a-child?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_content=share\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Glenn Greenwald<\/a> wrote that leaks \u201chave the effect, and often\u00a0<em>the intent<\/em>, of destroying someone\u2019s reputation, convicting them of repellent crimes in the court of public opinion that will never be brought in a court of law, thus relieving the state of the requirement to prove the crime and depriving the accused the opportunity to exonerate themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s precisely what happened.<\/p>\n<p>He was the target of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Pcm8TOBdYZQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">multiple \u201cSaturday Night Live\u201d skits<\/a>. \u201cGaetz is under investigation by the Justice Department for a number of crimes, including child sex trafficking and allegedly paying for sex,\u201d The Washington Post said in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Pcm8TOBdYZQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">video report<\/a> about the skits.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2021\/04\/12\/whatsapp-chat-matt-gaetz-joel-greenberg-480962\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Politico<\/a> reporters suggested the walls were closing in, writing, \u201cGaetz\u2019s allies now fear that Greenberg is preparing to strike a deal with prosecutors to deliver Gaetz.\u201d That was the tenor of coverage for months, even as Gaetz\u2019s claims regarding being the target of criminal extortion were <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/states\/florida\/story\/2021\/11\/22\/businessman-pleads-guilty-in-25m-extortion-attempt-of-matt-gaetzs-father-1394858\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">validated<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/donald-trump-tallahassee-florida-ron-desantis-campaigns-8c26a4a2c9c98d21e87acd8da4acde3b\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Associated Press<\/a> tried to tie Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to the scandal.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf Matt Gaetz is innocent of sex trafficking, why does he need an expensive criminal defense attorney from New York?\u201d said one <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ggreenwald\/status\/1381280425117679618\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">left-wing attorney<\/a> who is popular with corporate media.<\/p>\n<p>The Democrat-run Ethics Committee in the House <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/govtrack\/status\/1380605776239202313\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">typically waits<\/a> to run investigations of members until after the Department of Justice finishes an investigation. In Gaetz\u2019s case, the committee went out of its way to begin \u2014 and <a href=\"https:\/\/ethics.house.gov\/press-releases\/statement-chairman-and-ranking-member-committee-ethics-regarding-representative-22\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">announce<\/a> \u2014 an investigation into the embattled Florida member.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/edition.cnn.com\/2021\/04\/11\/politics\/matt-gaetz-liz-cheney\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Cheney<\/a> and other obsessed Never Trump activists (see <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JonahDispatch\/status\/1377035238317174787\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">here<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JonahDispatch\/status\/1377046722434711554\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">here<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JonahDispatch\/status\/1377073899821793281\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">here<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JonahDispatch\/status\/1377093463968260108\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">here<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JonahDispatch\/status\/1377094586208722953\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">here<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JonahDispatch\/status\/1377803217891958784\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">here<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JonahDispatch\/status\/1377806175077597187\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">here<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JonahDispatch\/status\/1377811218652614663\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">here<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JonahDispatch\/status\/1377808942517137408\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">here<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JonahDispatch\/status\/1377812876317057028\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">here<\/a>) delighted in the anonymously sourced allegations against Gaetz. They didn\u2019t publicly comment on Friday\u2019s also anonymously sourced news.<\/p>\n<p>Former Vice President Mike Pence\u2019s Chief of Staff Marc Short even accused Gaetz of being a child trafficker just this past July after the congressman said Pence was a \u201cnice guy\u201d but that he would never be president.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know if Mike Pence will run for president in 2024, but I don\u2019t think Matt Gaetz will have an impact on that,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.realclearpolitics.com\/video\/2022\/07\/25\/marc_short_rep_matt_gaetz_will_be_in_prison_for_child_trafficking_by_2024.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Short said<\/a>. \u201cIn fact, I\u2019d be surprised if he\u2019s still voting. It\u2019s more likely he\u2019ll be in prison for child trafficking by 2024.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>War on Critics<\/h2>\n<p>The Department of Justice, the FBI, and the corporate media have a history of viciously attacking \u2014 usually through deceptive leaks and lies \u2014 anyone who threatens their power. Then-Rep. Devin Nunes was viciously attacked for his leading role in fighting the Russia collusion hoax. Selective leaks to propagandists at The Washington Post, The New York Times, and other outlets were used to gin up ethics complaints, allege wrongdoing, slow down oversight, sideline effective pushback, and cover up massive malfeasance on the part of the agency.<\/p>\n<p>The Department of Justice and the FBI are out of control. The propaganda press are operating as co-conspirators in the operations they run against the American people. Should Republicans be able to take control of one or both houses of Congress, their task of helping save the republic must begin with using their oversight and purse power to dramatically reign in bureaucratic tyranny.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<div class=\"article-author-description fst-italic\">Mollie Ziegler Hemingway is the Editor-in-Chief of The Federalist. She is Senior Journalism Fellow at Hillsdale College and a Fox News contributor. She is the co-author of <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Justice-Trial-Kavanaugh-Confirmation-Supreme\/dp\/1621579832\">Justice on Trial: The Kavanaugh Confirmation and the Future of the Supreme Court<\/a><\/em>. She is the author of &#8220;<em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Rigged-Media-Democrats-Seized-Elections\/dp\/168451259X\/\">Rigged: How the Media, Big Tech, and the Democrats Seized Our Elections.<\/a><\/em>&#8221; Reach her at <b><a href=\"mailto:mzhemingway@thefederalist.com\">mzhemingway@thefederalist.com<\/a><\/b><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Prior to March 2021, Rep. Matt Gaetz was known for prominently pushing against Beltway groupthink. The colorful Florida congressman had been one of the few Republicans to help win<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":605,"featured_media":1657761,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1657759","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1657759","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/605"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1657759"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1657759\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1657761"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1657759"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1657759"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1657759"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}