Source: Dan Rather, retired CBS news broadcaster
The 42-year-old now former congressman worked in private practice for only a few years before winning a seat in the Florida legislature. He’s never spent a day as a prosecutor, but he has spent the past eight years in the United States Congress as Trump’s most zealous sycophant.
As Trump’s loudest enabler, he was one of the most vociferous 2020 election deniers. More troubling is his disdain for federal law enforcement agencies. He has called for the abolition of the FBI and Department of Justice if they do not “come to heel.”
If the only issues were his lack of experience and contempt for the department he is to head, this column would end here. Ah, but there is so much more.
First, the backstory.
The Justice Department and the House Ethics Committee have spent the past several years investigating Gaetz. He has been accused of: statutory rape, underage sexual abuse, illicit drug use, sharing inappropriate images and videos on the House floor, using campaign funds for personal use, accepting a bribe and improper gifts, giving favors to friends, and obstructing justice.
The Justice Department chose not to indict him because of what they say were concerns about the quality of the witnesses. But the Republican-controlled House of Representatives has continued its own investigation, even though they “had difficulty in obtaining” information from Gaetz.
The record shows that Gaetz has not been formally charged with any crime, much less been indicted. He is therefore, of course, entitled to a presumption of innocence as a matter of law.
