Remember: The Gaetz Report Relies on Man Already in Jail for Falsely Accusing Someone Else of Exact Same Crime
On Monday, the House Ethics Committee released its report on former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz concerning accusations of sexual misconduct and illegal drug use.
Gaetz is a former representative, who resigned after the announcement by President-elect Donald Trump that Gaetz was his nominee for Attorney General; Gaetz has since withdrawn his name.
Although CBS reported the Committee found “substantial evidence” of the accusations against the former representative, we need to remember just who is making them.
On Nov. 17, Federalist Editor-in-Chief Molly Hemingway brought attention to the Committee’s investigation being on dubious grounds — grounds that were so unreliable that President Joe Biden’s DOJ did not proceed in 2022.
Among the witnesses the Ethics Committee relied on was Joel Greenberg.
Greenberg — a former tax collector in Seminole County, Florida — is currently serving an 11-year prison sentence for lying about another politician having a sexual relationship with a minor.
Hemingway noted, “Greenberg also reportedly later attempted to frame his own attorney with pornographic images of children.”
A 2023 lawsuit shed further light on Greenberg’s behavior and two women who made claims against Gaetz. Greenberg alleged one of the women had sex with Gaetz while underage which her friend — the other women — corroborated.
However, it was Greenberg who had an inappropriate sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl while he was married, using a website where young women meet older men. Greenberg claimed he did not know she was underage.
Greenberg reportedly “became insistent” Gaetz help him obtain a pardon. When he was denied, he “said he would seek vengeance on those who refused to help him during his time of need,” according to Hemingway.
Greenberg started pointing the finger at Gaetz and other Republicans, accusing them of similar crimes. In September, “Gaetz revealed a letter [to the Committee] from a jailhouse informant who shared a holding cell with Greenberg when Greenberg admitted ‘making stuff up about’ Gaetz as part of a plan to lighten what could have been as much as a 27-year sentence in federal prison,” Hemingway wrote.
The inmate was interviewed by federal agents, telling them the woman Greenberg had a relationship with while still a minor “would be willing to adopt Greenberg’s lie in hopes of a future financial benefit.”
The DOJ found Greenberg so unreliable, they dropped the case.
Greenberg’s history, crimes, and accusations of others make his portrayal of Gaetz almost impossible to believe.
The DOJ didn’t see anything to pursue with Greenberg, but Gaetz thinks the House Ethics Committee went after him for playing a pivotal role in ousting former Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
Accusations of sexual misconduct – no matter how faulty – are now those in the Swamp’s default strategy.
Despite recent examples like Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth or even Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Justice Clearance Thomas’ confirmation hearing in 1991, which involved sexual harassment accusations by Anita Hill, prove this is not exclusively a strategy employed in light of Trump’s ascent.
In using Greenberg for their report, the Ethics Committee damaged their credibility.
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