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I didn't know where to put this

https://news.yahoo.com/witness-told-feds-she-paid-092716273.html.

Witness Told Feds She Was Paid for Sex Parties With Matt Gaetz
Roger Sollenberger
Fri, February 16, 2024 at 4:27 AM EST·8 min read
783

Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/Getty

When ABC News reported on Wednesday that the House Ethics Committee had acquired text messages between a young woman involved in the sex trafficking investigation and Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), a Gaetz spokesperson told ABC that the congressman “does not know anything about the woman you’re referencing.”

That seems extraordinarily unlikely.

The Daily Beast can now report that this woman told prosecutors in 2021 that she had sex with Gaetz at a drug-fueled party that she was paid to attend, according to the woman’s attorney.

Matt Gaetz Privately Told Colleagues His Real Motivation for Kevin McCarthy Ouster Was Ethics Probe

This attorney told The Daily Beast on Thursday that the woman, in fact, received payments in connection with multiple sex parties with people in Gaetz’s circle. Her lawyer said that, in response to a subpoena, she testified about her experiences to the U.S. Attorneys investigating Gaetz. And she turned over text messages, photos, and other evidence to the Justice Department as part of its child sex trafficking inquiry into the Florida congressman, the lawyer said.

The Daily Beast has obtained some of those messages and photos, which match the documents described by ABC News.

While the lawyer said he has not yet been contacted by House investigators, as ABC reported, the House Ethics Committee is now reviewing this evidence as part of its inquiry into whether Gaetz paid for sex with women and with an underage teen. In fact, the Ethics Committee met Thursday afternoon behind closed doors to discuss the Gaetz case, which also involves allegations of public corruption, solicitation of prostitution, habitual use of hard drugs, bribes or impermissible gifts, campaign finance violations, and exhibiting nude photos of sexual partners on the House floor.

The woman’s attorney also told The Daily Beast that, when it became apparent Gaetz was being investigated in 2021, she was contacted by another male party attendee—a Gaetz associate—who pressed her to see if she was speaking to anyone about the congressman or the parties. She felt this meeting was an effort to intimidate her into not describing any of the events related to Gaetz, the lawyer said.

The woman, whose name The Daily Beast is withholding, was older than 21 at the time of the encounters, the attorney said, noting that she emphasized to prosecutors that the sex was consensual.

“She told them that she and lots of girls were provided all kinds of controlled substances at these parties,” the lawyer said, confirming a number of news reports about the gatherings. The heavy use of drugs and alcohol was a hurdle for investigators, he said, since it muddled memories of the events.

“The availability of vast amounts of alcohol and controlled substances gave rise to the lack of control of the hormonal imperative,” this lawyer continued, “which inspired people to engage in intimate behavior that may or may not have been because they were financially remunerated.”

This woman appears in Venmo transactions previously reported on by The Daily Beast. Between March and July 2017, this woman received nearly $2,500 across multiple payments from Gaetz’s then-best friend, locally elected tax collector Joel Greenberg. The descriptions Greenberg entered for her payments included “travel,” “being cool,” “stuff,” and the misspelled first name of another Greenberg associate.

Bombshell Letter: Gaetz Paid for Sex With Minor, Wingman Says

The text messages now in the hands of congressional investigators show Gaetz propositioning the woman for a May 2017 private group flight to the Florida Keys, where they would be joined by three women and one other man.

“Hey—any interest in flying on a private plane to the keys May 19-21?” Gaetz wrote in one message, adding that she would be traveling with “2 guys, 4 girls. A very high-quality adventurous group.”

The woman initially agreed, to which Gaetz replied, “Fantastic.”

“As is true with all time you spend w me, it’ll be fun and chill,” Gaetz wrote. He then asked if she had a passport, and she replied that she did.

The woman ultimately declined to make the trip, her attorney confirmed. She doesn’t appear in Venmo transactions around that time, though two other women do, including one who received a $500 payment described as “Cuba.”

(A person with knowledge of the events told The Daily Beast that Gaetz privately boasted about taking a trip to Cuba around this time.)

The woman invited to the Florida Keys did receive other payments from Greenberg in the months before and after the trip, however. For one $500 charge to Greenberg in July 2017, she entered a police woman emoji—“👮”—in the memo line. (That same weekend, Gaetz and Greenberg each shared a selfie of themselves at dinner with Roger Stone in Miami.)

Although the woman appears to have ultimately declined the trip to the Florida Keys, ABC reported that she posed for a selfie with Gaetz on May 19, the planned departure day. That photo, which The Daily Beast has obtained, was taken at 10:53 p.m. in Winter Garden, Florida, according to metadata on the photo. It shows the attention-grabbing conservative in a T-shirt emblazoned with a quote from former Planned Parenthood vice president Mary Lasker: “If you think research is expensive, try disease.”

A selfie of Rep. Matt Gaetz and woman.
Obtained by The Daily Beast.
(The Daily Beast has edited this photo to protect the woman’s identity.)

The woman’s attorney told The Daily Beast that her decision to come forward was a difficult and emotionally taxing experience. And the lawyer pointed to the meeting with the Gaetz associate as evidence that those pressures weren’t all purely internal.

At one point, the lawyer said, this person close to Gaetz berated his client for information about what she may tell anyone investigating Gaetz, and she felt that the clear intent was to pressure her to keep her mouth shut.

This Gaetz associate asked to meet the woman for lunch in the spring of 2021, the lawyer said. The setup made the attorney so uneasy, however, that he dispatched a colleague to tag along and monitor the meeting in secret.

“This associate was there asking her over and over and over what she had said, demanding she tell them,” the lawyer claimed. The lawyer reported that the woman felt intimidated but did not concede.

Last year, prosecutors announced they were declining to file charges against Gaetz, while also refusing to publicly offer an explanation. That decision, almost exactly one year ago, gave rise to frustration and outrage among key witnesses in the case, including women who had come forward to provide intimate and detailed accounts of their interactions, according to interviews with lawyers and witnesses in the matter.

“The fact that nothing has come of it has kind of astonished her, who along with all the others had been the focal point of such an intense investigation,” the woman’s lawyer said. “For them to go through all that and then for the target of the investigation to just get a wink and a nod has created for some of them a loss of faith in the system.”

Not long after prosecutors tabled their investigation, the Ethics Committee reopened its own probe, which it initiated in 2021 but quickly put on ice in deference to the DOJ. Since then, the committee has reached out to several key witnesses, including the former 17-year-old at the center of the sex trafficking allegations, Greenberg, and an ex-girlfriend of Gaetz’s, according to news reports and sources familiar with the events.

House Ethics Probe Into Matt Gaetz ‘Zeroes In’ on Sex Trafficking

The Ethics probe appears to have rattled Gaetz. Last month, The Daily Beast reported that he privately told colleagues that the rebooted investigation was the reason he waged his scorched-earth campaign to oust then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. The months of infighting destroyed key allegiances within the House GOP, eroding trust and sowing enmity between members, feeding a stream of embarrassing headlines. Republicans still have not recovered from the damage.

Gaetz’s close associate, Greenberg, struck a deal with prosecutors in May 2021, pleading guilty to child sex trafficking, fraud, and an array of other federal offenses. In his plea agreement, Greenberg admitted he had also connected the former 17-year-old to other unnamed “adult men” who had sex with her while she was still underage. After several proffers and deferments, Greenberg was eventually sentenced in December 2022, receiving 11 years in prison.

In a confession letter Greenberg penned in 2020 as part of his pursuit of a pardon from then-President Donald Trump, Greenberg wrote that Gaetz also paid to have sex with the 17-year-old, as The Daily Beast previously reported. In his letter, Greenberg noted the exact date that he accessed a DMV database to learn that the teen in question was underage.

“Immediately I called the congressman and warned him to stay clear of this person and informed him she was underage,” Greenberg wrote. “He was equally shocked and disturbed by this revelation.”

But that new information apparently didn’t scare Gaetz or Greenberg off from the teen. The Daily Beast previously reported about a Venmo payment from Gaetz to Greenberg about eight months later, where Gaetz asked his friend to “hit up” the teen. She had turned 18 just five months prior to that Venmo transaction, and Gaetz was 36 at the time—twice her age.

Asked for comment, a Gaetz spokesperson repeated the statement to ABC: “Rep. Gaetz does not know anything about the woman you’re referencing.”

When The Daily Beast provided the name of the woman in question, the spokesperson simply didn’t reply.

Good post, Swish. I'll get back in a bit.

Word.

In the meantime, conservatives need to enlighten me on why Lara Trump should be the head of the RNC, like Don wants his daughter-in-law to be. can't wait to read the justifications.

That’s a damn lie! He’s not media, he’s an entertainer; his words, not mine.

So Putin killed his political rival Navalny. And this is what GOPers and Trump want the USA to be? MAGAts.

Oooookay... let's say he's a shoe cobbler.

It's sad when the outrage of a "lie" is centered around his title as opposed to advocating of killing another person. Clearly fine with the latter.

I never said I’d kill anyone, I just used Tuckems words against him.

Well stated, I cannot argue with that. But that's actually part of my point.

DL05 made the point "brick by brick he's built this wall", the same "wall" your speaking of here. So, following that metaphor, why am I (anybody, most recently Memphis) said to be someone guarding the wall if I'm merely questioning or even endorsing a brick?

Memphis commented that recent statements in an article were taken out of context. In my opinion, they were, 100%. The frenzied response was along the lines of "it doesn't matter he's a ____ and a _____ and I just don't see why people can't see that" (and yes DL05, I'm mischaracterizing your comments because I don't feel like searching for them). Memphis was commenting on the brick, not the wall.

Why are people so triggered by that? It's all but characterized as 'dangerous' in many circles. I guess as a free-thinking adult, I don't understand that, certainly not within the setting of DawgTalkers and a bunch of intelligent participants.

And please understand, I'm just using this instance as an example, almost unfairly in the sense that most posts by DawgLover are the exact opposite of what I'm complaining about.

Each brick is a part of that wall. Saying you're only involved with one brick doesn't change that.

Hmmm, maybe this is something worthwhile...

*click*

Nope.


Thanks, Captain Obvious.

I don't know how we ever make it through a discussion without you.


*toggle*

You do realize you addressed that post to yourself, right? But I certainly agree with your response considering who you addressed it to.

Ex-Illinois lawmaker abruptly pleads guilty to fraud and money laundering, halting federal trial

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Former Illinois lawmaker and gubernatorial candidate William “Sam” McCann abruptly pleaded guilty on Thursday to nine felony counts of wire fraud, money laundering and tax evasion, halting his federal corruption trial over misusing up to $550,000 in campaign contributions.

McCann, who cut off negotiations over a plea deal last fall when he dismissed his court-appointed attorneys, made the reversal on the third day of a bench trial before U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Lawless. His latest lawyer, Jason Vincent, of Springfield, asked that he be released from custody as part of the deal, but Lawless nixed the idea, telling McCann his only option was to offer a no-strings open plea.

The seven counts of wire fraud and single count of money laundering each carry a sentence of up to 20 years in federal prison. For tax evasion, it’s three. But a complex set of advisory guidelines before Lawless, who set sentencing for June 20, will likely yield a far shorter term.

“Are you pleading guilty because you are in fact guilty?” Lawless asked. The 54-year-old McCann, wearing the gray-and-black striped jumpsuit of the nearby county jail where he’s held, replied, “Yes, your honor.”

Lawless set a hearing for Friday on McCann’s release request, but it’s certain to draw opposition from the government and not just because McCann violated probation last week when he left the state to check himself into a hospital with chest pains. Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Bass told Lawless he would introduce as further evidence of McCann’s unreliability a bizarre social media video posted just this week in which McCann claims a government conspiracy involving an “ungodly pack of lies” is against him.

A state senator from 2011 to 2019, McCann formed the Conservative Party of Illinois to campaign for governor in 2018. A criminal indictment in 2021 outlined numerous schemes McCann employed to convert contributions from his campaign committees to buy vehicles, pay an overdue loan, two mortgages, credit card bills and fund a family vacation, entertainment and other purchases.

For his unsuccessful run for governor, he collected more than $3 million dollars from Local 150 of the International Union of Operating Engineers alone. Despite being questioned four times by FBI and IRS agents in summer 2018 about alleged improper spending, he tore through $340,000 in leftover campaign funds for personal expenses in the year after the election.

McCann’s trial was repeatedly delayed. On the day it was supposed to start last November, McCann announced he had dismissed his court-appointed attorneys and would represent himself, telling reporters afterward, “God’s got this.” The proceeding was reset for Feb. 5, but McCann didn’t show, sending a weekend email that he was in a St. Louis-area hospital.

Back in court Feb. 12, a circumspect Lawless questioned McCann closely when he told her he was “medically and psychologically” unable to go to trial and ceded control of his defense to Vincent.

At that point, McCann told the judge he had very little memory of anything that occurred after his Feb. 7 discharge from the hospital, including a 55-mile (89-kilometer) drive last Friday from his home to Springfield to surrender for skirting probation guidelines. He drove a pickup that matched the description of the one the indictment said he used $60,000 in campaign funds to partially purchase.

On Tuesday, while McCann was in jail, the video appeared on Instagram. McCann was driving what appeared to be a truck and told his viewers he was innocent of the charges. He claimed an “Orwellian” government had attempted to nail him for failing to provide assistance on other investigations, offering an extravagant tale about a probe into McCann’s “unholy alliance” with then-House Speaker Michael Madigan to “rig an election.

“I wouldn’t play ball. They came back to me and said, ‘Well, we have you on this,’” McCann says in the video. “And if you just tell us what we want to hear, we’ll stop digging. And I said ‘No, I’m not going to tell you what you want to hear. I will speak the truth.’”

So federal agents continued digging and, McCann said, managed to “turn everything I’ve ever touched” into “these machinations of wrongdoing.”

https://apnews.com/article/illinois...wHQUObQNoyWLXlz4yHQ4lwxNe8oC3KLdDCWue3nI

Ahhh GOPers rigging elections and using the campaign funds for personal gain. Oh the humanity!

He’s referencing the quote from Fox’s attorneys in the defamation lawsuit. Paraphrasing now, but the phrase was that no reasonable person would take Carlson’s words as truthful and/or serious.

How dumb do you gotta be to use Venmo to pay for underage hookers. YIKES

Ask Bill Clinton. He likes them young.

No worries on the misquote. I’ll just say he’s gotten to the point of building so many “bricks” that sticking up for one of them almost doesn’t even make sense. On top of that, I don’t even think the “brick” being discussed was one to defend.

There is no excuse for Clinton...not sure how he wasn't removed. But this is a bit different.

You never saw Clinton rail against the so called Pedophiles within the other party. Comparing Clinton to Gaitz has a hole in it.

I should also point out that the "DUMB" part was Paying for young Hookers with Venmo.. Something that can be traced. Clinton was an ass, but he didn't do that.

I know that Facts don't matter to the MAGA crowd....

“the Gaetz case, which also involves allegations of public corruption, solicitation of prostitution, habitual use of hard drugs, bribes or impermissible gifts, campaign finance violations, and exhibiting nude photos of sexual partners on the House floor.”

But but but…whatabout Hunter?

Who did Clinton have relations with that was a minor and what did he pay for? I'll help you out. She was a legal adult and he didn't pay her. Not that facts matter to you in your feeble excuse to excuse your pedophile Gaetz. You'll even try to make excuses for a man being a pedophile if he's a Republican. That says a lot about you.

And trump and Ye have something else in common.

Trump launches a sneaker line

Former President Donald Trump launched a line of sneakers ranging in price from $199 to $399.

If anyone was waiting for the other shoe to drop in the upcoming presidential race, former President Donald Trump just did, launching his own line of tennis shoes on Saturday.

“I’ve wanted to do this for a long time,” Trump said when he announced the launch of a sneaker line at Sneaker Con in Philadelphia.

“I have some incredible people that work with me on things and they came up with this ... and I think it’s gonna be a big success,” he added.

In his brief remarks at the sneaker launch, Trump indicated the line could be an effort to reach out to younger supporters, saying, “We’re going to turn this country around fast. We’re going to turn it around. And we’re going to remember the young people, and we’re going to remember Sneaker Con.”

He was met with a mostly enthusiastic crowd, though some occasional boos permeated through the cheers.

The line, called Trump Sneakers, is available for preorder online.

It features three different pairs of tennis shoes: a pair of high-tops, a pair of red laceless athletic shoes and a pair of white laceless athletic shoes.

The high-tops, which are gold and emblazoned with a “T” on the outside of each shoe, are called the “Never Surrender High Top Sneaker” and are priced at $399 online. The athletic shoes, which feature a “T” and the number 45 on the sides are priced at $199.

The purchase of a pair of sneakers comes with extra laces and a Trump “superhero charm.”

The website selling the sneakers also features a “Victory47” perfume and cologne for sale at $99 each.

The sneakers, perfume and cologne sales have nothing to do with Trump’s presidential campaign or the Trump Organization. The former president’s name, image and likeness have been licensed to CIC Ventures LLC to sell the sneakers.

President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign mocked the sneaker launch, with communications director Michael Tyler saying, “Donald Trump showing up to hawk bootleg Off-Whites is the closest he’ll get to any Air Force Ones ever again for the rest of his life.”

The announcement comes less than 24 hours after Trump incurred a more than $350 million penalty for engaging in repeated financial fraud through his family corporation. Trump has said he intends to appeal the order.

This isn’t Trump’s first time licensing his name, image and likeness to sell products. In 2022 and 2023, he struck a licensing agreement to sell NFT trading cards. Those cards were produced and sold by NFT INT LLC, which had a licensing agreement with Trump to use his name and image.

Sneaker Con, the venue where Trump debuted the sneaker collection, is an event that started in 2009 and has become one of the premiere events within the broader sneaker culture that has exploded in recent decades.

With the rise of sneaker culture, signature shoes have moved beyond athletes to musicians, actors and more. Some politicians are now thought of as “sneakerheads,” which is slang for people who tend to rock particularly desirable sneakers. Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., reportedly has somewhere in the neighborhood of 150 pairs of collectible sneakers.

Sneakers directly associated with politicians are rare. There are a pair of Nikes designed for former President Barack Obama, but only a couple of pairs are known to exist, and Under Armour made a pair for him with the presidential logo that Steph Curry wore for a game.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/trump-launches-sneaker-line-rcna139334

"Is a quick getaway from the Capital Building something you think may be in your future? FBI on your trail? Well then Trump Sneakers is the shoe for you!"

https://people.com/bill-clinton-mentioned-jeffrey-epstein-court-docs-8422335

Man, libtards are so clueless. Bill was a pedophile.

And they already sold out on pre-order. SMH

Like the picture of trump smiling with Epstein? As per usual you have no evidence of anything. You must have learned from Comer.

The Epstein rape victim said Bill Clinton prefers young girls. I believe her. She has no reason to lie. Talking [censored] about Clintons will get you killed. She is especially brave.

Did she accuse him of rape? The last time you tried to string something this vague together you claimed a woman who gave birth to a baby was a transsexual. You never learn.

She was one of the minor aged victims at the island, where Clinton was known to go. She said Epstein told her that "Bill likes them young". If youre not bright enough to understand, its not my fault.

And yet you'll defend the guy whose actually on a tape talking about grabbing girls p*ssies without their consent.

Yeah, and another mention of the debunked clinton assassination trail .... Clearly you have the inside scoop. Almost ironic when you run round spamming 'tard' in every other post.

Yet it cannot be refuted that Bill Clinton is a cheating pedophile. Your spaz attack whatabout doesnt change the facts.

Someone said it and you believe them. Great. Just like you believe there is a trail of dead bodies the clintons have had assassinated. Got it.
Only person having a spazattack is you.

as for whatabout ??? Yes, your clinton comment was what some might call a whatabout. Maybe it was justified? If it wad, then so was the reference to former Potus on tape bragging of sexual assault.

There are some interesting things on Twitter regarding JD Vance and dolphins right now…

She may be referring to Epstiens thing. Not sure

Ya gotta love the guy--he throws so much stuff up against the wall---some has to stick and earn him some money.

Get your education at Trump University- oophs- closed, students didn't get what they were promised--Trump steaks- gone, Trump action figures- oophs, seen one, and the latest and greatest.....TRUMP SNEAKERS- only $399, or some lesser ones available-----NOW, that's Presidential-- name another ex-President hawking sneakers----wait for it----none. Let's see how his brand does selling shoes--- WOW, and he expects the American public to vote him in as President---WOW.

Ghislaine Maxwell says Bill Clinton was not on Epstein's island but did fly on private jet

'Absolutely 1,000 per cent that is a flat out total fabrication and lie'

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...hile-island-lolita-express-b1232944.html

From the very source you supplied..................

"He said one time that Clinton likes them young, referring to girls," Sjoberg responded. Elsewhere in the deposition, Sjoberg clarified that she never met Clinton or saw him on Epstein's island.

https://people.com/bill-clinton-mentioned-jeffrey-epstein-court-docs-8422335

Let me explain just how bright you are. First off Clinton was never on Epstein Island that anyone can verify. Secondly, what you're actually doing is taking Epstein's word for it. A sick pedophile that lived a double life and never told the truth. She only reported what 'Epstein told her'.

Now why on earth would you take that sick pedophiles word for it? Because it's what you want to hear and believe.

First you would have to present some facts. So far all you have is that you believe what Epstein told some young girl. You have decided to trust the word of a known pedophile to base what you call facts on.

This is where I'm at. I don't understand the effort being put forward to go to bat for a guy like Tucker Carlson. Ok fine, you successfully argued against the one brick... isn't this a textbook example of not seeing the forest for the trees? The guy used the argument that what he had said on Fox was for entertainment purposes and no reasonable person would take what he said at face value... and that was back when he was on cable TV.

IIRC, this "brick" we've been talking about is where Tucker was talking about how true leaders have to kill people. The argument is that this was taken out of context (?), and yet here we are a couple weeks later and Putin's main political opponent has died in prison under suspicious circumstances.

#tuckerapproved

I think we should also consider the fact that Al Bundy was a broke ass shoe salesman too.

Effort being put forward to go to bat for Tucker?? Where in the world have you seen this? In this thread??

No, not even close, not by any stretch. Did someone endorse the wall and use the brick as an example? Absolutely not. That would be the only way your statement makes sense. You're actually taking an age-old expression and turning it inside-out.

This really has nothing to do with the conversation. I won't put any effort toward defending it, regardless of the fact it's been 'parroted' down to being misleading.

Not at all. The brick is about someone stating the author of an article was taking things out of context, by saying that Tucker was condoning Putin's bad actions by making a vague statement about the history of world leaders.

Yes. And apples are a healthy snack choice while orange is the color of my favorite team. In other words, the two have nothing to do with each other. I'm not even sure how you think they do.