Matt Gaetz Scandal BLOWS UP Leaving Trump STUNNED

Today, new reporting on the allegations that help upend the political career of former Congressman Matt Gates, including ending his bid to become President Trump's attorney general. The New York Times Michael Schmidt reviewed court documents that alleged the 17-year-old girl Gates was accused of having sex with was living in and out of a homeless shelter and was saving money for braces before she was drawn into the world of having sex with powerful men for money. Gates has repeatedly denied allegations of child sex trafficking. He was investigated by the Justice Department but never charged. Joining us now, the investigative reporter who broke this story, Michael Schmidt of the New York Times. Good to see you, Michael. What more can you tell us about the circumstances that led to this alleged victim's encounters with Matt Gates? So, uh, look, a lot has been written about Matt Gates over the years and the, uh, investigations into him, the ethics investigation into him, his bid to become Trump's first attorney general. But at the heart of it, um, no one had ever really written about the 17-year-old girl who had testified that she had sex with Gates when she was 17. >> You can tell something is shifting inside Republican politics right now. It's one of those moments where a story everyone thought had faded suddenly comes roaring back. And it comes back with a lot more force than before. The Matt Gates scandal isn't just resurfacing. It's landing right in the middle of a moment where the GOP is already under such extreme pressure and where Donald Trump can't afford any more problems. And somehow this is the one story he didn't see coming. Because this isn't just about one former congressman getting exposed again. This is about who he was connected to, who he helped, and what he represented inside the Republican party. And when you look at the timing with the Epstein files back in the news, it becomes obvious why Trump and a lot of people around him are suddenly getting very, very nervous. All right, so let's let's slow down and let's walk through what's happening, why this matters, and why this is turning into such a mess for Trump and the GOP. All right, most people already know who Matt Gates is. For years, he wasn't just another Republican lawmaker. He was one of the loudest, most loyal defenders Donald Trump ever had in Congress. Every time there was a scandal, every time there was a hearing, every time Trump needed someone to go on TV and throw a punch, Gates was right there. He built his entire identity around being part of the MAGA movement. And Trump rewarded him with access, influence, and a place inside his inner circle. Even when Gates tried for a Justice Department role and the Senate shut him down, he stayed in Trump's orbit. And when the House GOP started falling apart last year, Gates became the guy who blew everything up by leading the rebellion against Speaker Kevin McCarthy. It was a huge political moment. It changed the entire direction of the House and it earned Gates a long list of enemies. >> You made a lot of concessions >> in the negotiations. >> No, I didn't. Okay. Okay. Is that >> Let's get to the bottom, though. That That is such a misnomer in life. Let me give you the truth about that now. >> And I'll give you the truth why I'm not speaker. Because one person, a member of Congress, wanted me to stop an ethics complaint because he slept with a 17-year-old. An ethics complaint that started before I ever became speaker, and that's illegal, and I'm not going to get in the middle. Did he do it or not? I don't know. But an ethics is looking at it. There's other people in jail because of it. And he wanted me to influence it. And you know what? So then they come out and they say, "Because I kept government open, I'd do it all over again. We're not going to pay our troops. No, I'm going to pay my troops. You can't do the job. Okay. When it comes to the concession, the motion to vacate about one person being able to make that motion. How long has that been in the rules? Forever. The only time it was changed is when Pelosi became speaker the second time and she put the power with the minority leader. I think it's wrong. McCarthy especially didn't hold back. After he lost the speakerhip, he went on camera and said something that a lot of people brushed off at the time. He claimed Gates was trying to force him to interfere in an ethics investigation. An investigation that, according to McCarthy, involved allegations that Gates slept with a 17-year-old. He said the investigation started before he became speaker. He said other people involved had already gone to jail. And he basically said the quiet part out loud. Gates wasn't trying to be a principled rebel. he was trying to protect himself and that's all the Republicans really care about politicians but very certainly Republicans when it's involved with uh all of these Epstein files and all of these cases with uh illicit behavior with minors. Um now back then a lot of Republicans acted like McCarthy was just bitter. They even sided with Gates over him because Gates h was Trump's biggest defender, right? And loyalty is more important to them than ethics. So they said he was just exaggerating to defend his own reputation. And because there wasn't much public information yet, it was easy for some people to wave it away and move on. But that was then and things look very different now. >> Let's take a look at what's making headlines around the state now in your Florida Minute. So former Republican Congressman Matt Gates confirms he is considering to run for Florida's governor in the next election. So Gates made the announcement saying he is quote Florida man end quote in a video on X posted by One American News. So Gates was a representative in Congress from 2017 to 2024 and was eventually nominated as an attorney general by President-elect Donald Trump. But he soon withdrew ahead of the release of a House ethics panel report accusing him of paying for sex with women, including a minor. >> So once Gates left Congress, he made it clear that he wasn't done with politics. He floated a Senate run and then he also teased a return to the House. He hinted more than once that he might run for governor of Florida once Ronda Santis was out. Uh and honestly on paper it looked like he kind of could pull it off with the support that Republicans get um and the base of of like who supports which candidate. Uh Florida Republicans already know him. The MAGA base loves him and name recognition alone gives him a huge advantage. It just depends on whether or not the MAGA base and Trump's name influences the elections positively or negatively. But the thing standing between Gates and Higher Office is the same thing that's been sitting in the background for years. Those allegations about a 17-year-old girl. There seems to be a lot of underage uh illicit behavior from a lot of politicians, especially Republicans these days. Um all the more so that the Epstein files should come out, right? All right. So, this is where everything flips. A few weeks ago, some new information came out about Matt Gates. Some court documents were unsealed. A young woman who had stayed anonymous for years stepped forward through her lawyer and confirmed the court details of the accusations. She explained how she was 17. She was homeless and trying to survive while working at McDonald's. She said she lied about being 18 on a website where older men look for young women who need money for uh services. She said she met Joel Greenberg, the same Greenberg who was later arrested on multiple charges, and he introduced her to Gates. She said she was given drugs, she was given alcohol, and she had sex with Gates twice while she was still 17. She testified this under oath. Um, and according to the documents, she was paid through Greenberg. So, this wasn't a rumor anymore. This was actual on record. This was sworn testimony, not just political gossip. This was actually in the courts. To that headline about Florida Congressman Matt Gates first reported in the New York Times. ABC News now confirming he is being investigated by the Justice Department over an alleged relationship with an underage girl. Gates denying any wrongdoing while claiming he's a target of an extortion attempt. Mary Bruce has the latest for us. Good morning, Mary. >> Good morning, Robin. This is a truly bizarre story this morning. The Florida congressman is reportedly under federal investigation and now he is fighting back. He is adamant that these allegations of sexual misconduct are false. And in a headscratching interview overnight, he says this is all rooted in an attempt to extort him. Overnight, Florida Congressman Matt Gates, a rising conservative star and close ally of former President Trump, insisting he did nothing wrong. >> It is a horrible allegation and it is a lie. >> The New York >> and suddenly everything Kevin McCarthy warned about didn't just look like bitterness, did it? It actually looked like a preview for what actually eventually happened. And you know, hindsight is 2025 or whatnot. So, politically, this is a nightmare for Gates, but it's also a nightmare for Trump, right? Because when someone who was this close to the president gets pulled back into a scandal involving a minor, the scrutiny doesn't just stay on one person. And the similarities between these two people and their cases also kind of looks a bit too similar. You know, the media starts looking at the entire network around them. you know, who knew what, who ignored what, who stayed silent, who said what, who stayed close to them, who, you know, communicated. And right now, the last thing Trump needs is scrutiny for either of these cases, especially himself, but especially Matt Gates, who was so close to him. We're really in a political moment where the Epstein files are getting some renewed attention both on the left and on the right. A lot of people are asking some pretty hard questions. Um, names are resurfacing, connections are being revisited, a lot of people are going to be exposed that by this if the files really do come out, a lot more people are going to be in there than just uh Donald Trump being named 2020 times in in the Epstein emails. And there's going to be a lot more drama. And whether Trump supporters like it or not, Trump was connected to a lot of the same circles. Even if his name appeared zero times in the files, he's connected to the same people. like he's in pictures and we're just nitpicking on whether he committed these specific illegal act when he's already in these circles and hanging out with these people and doing things right. So when a scandal involving sex trafficking minors and political power blows up inside the GOP, all of this kind of blends together in the public mind and just makes it a disaster for the reputation and everything going on. Just the Matt Gates to the Trump thing, everything at once. Just like how can anyone support these people? Which brings us to the real issue here. The Republican party is about to be forced into a decision. Do they defend Gates because he's one of their own? Or do they cut him loose to prove that they still have a moral line? And then do they do the same for Trump? Do they draw a line between them? Do they defend him? Do they go forward with the Epstein files? If Trump's name is in there, do they go after him or will they redact it? If Matt Gates is going to continue in court, are they going to back him or support him because of Trump? And here's where it gets even more complicated. Because the MAGA movement itself is not unified on this. Just this week, Megan Kelly went viral for trying to draw a distinction between people who target young children and people who target still minor teenagers, both children and fully illegal under the law in terms of sex acts. So, this was a very specific distinction that she made on TV that made a lot of people uncomfortable because it sounded like she was making space for behavior that should not have any space at all, especially not when it's so much in the news and it's involving our president and this group of elite people involving thousands of victims. This is not something we are testing. This is not a distinction that we're supposed to be making at this moment when these are young children fully legal and who are victimized by criminal elites. And then there's Trump. He has already said publicly that he wouldn't rule out pardoning Jane Maxwell. He's fully involved in their circles. He was fully friends with them. He said he doesn't think about it, but like also he's not going to say no. Like he does the whole div.a thing. Oh, he might say it, he might not. So that comment alone tells you everything about how the MAGA political world handles these kinds of accusations. There's this constant tension between law and order talk and the the reality of who actually gets protected and uh who actually gets um targeted and who actually gets prosecuted when they're on the opposing team versus when they're on Trump's team and who he cuts off and who he actually endorses. So now the party is really split. There are Republicans who want accountability, who think that the Gates story and the Trump story are really serious and need to be dealt with. And there are also Republicans who think that Gates should be defended because he's loyal to Trump and that and that they should protect them at all costs or that they should, you know, be very cautious when it comes to these accusations. So either way, I think for the Republicans, it is a lose-lose situation. And that brings us back to why Trump is panicking. Gates was supposed to be a super loyal ally, a useful fighter, someone who could carry the MAGA message forward in Florida politics and represent him and his message, right? And instead, now he's become this huge political liability to him, like a huge one, because scandals like this don't stay contained. They spread, rumors spread, emotions about people spread, they bring other names into the conversation. They open doors Trump thought were closed. And the worst part for Trump, whatever the GOP decides to do with Matt Gates becomes the precedent for how they'll have to deal with Trump if anything similar ever lands in his lap if he ever becomes implicated in some Epstein files, for example. So yes, Matt Gates is in trouble, but the truth is the Republican party might be in even bigger trouble. And Donald Trump, he might be in the biggest trouble. He knows exactly why this is the nightmare that he didn't see coming. He never sees accountability coming, but hopefully it's at the end of those Epstein files or perhaps somewhere in the middle. If you made it this far in the video, please leave us a like, comment, and subscribe for other videos in the future. Thanks for watching again, and we'll see you in the next one.

A major new controversy involving Rep. Matt Gaetz is shaking up Washington and triggering big reactions across the political world. This video breaks down what’s being reported, the fallout inside Congress, and how former President Trump is responding — all based on public reporting and political commentary. Stay tuned for continuing updates on U.S. politics and major national stories. #MattGaetz #TrumpNews #USPolitics #PoliticalDrama #BreakingNews #Congress #DCNews #PoliticalCommentary #TrendingNews #Election2024 #Government #CapitolHill #NewsUpdate #Washington