By now you have probably read something about Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida and the investigation into his connections to the alleged sex trafficking of a minor. The allegations stem from Gaetz’s rosy relationship with disgraced former Seminole County, Florida, Republican tax collector Joel Greenberg. Greenberg faces a slew of charges that include allegations that he used his access to state tax databases to “recruit and solicit an underage girl for sex.”
Rep. Gaetz’s short political career has been marked by histrionics like wearing a gas mask for an early House vote on COVID-19 relief, lying about election fraud conspiracy theories and the insurrection at the Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021, and controversy like wondering whether or not Black Lives Matters protesters could be lynched. These new allegations are both disturbing and, unfortunately, not surprising.