Former U.S. Representative Matt Gaetz (R-FL) has been in the news recently for withdrawing his name from consideration as Donald Trump's Attorney General amid discussions about uncharged allegations of child sex trafficking, but there are other skeletons in the ex-lawmaker's closet, according to a reporter.
Jeffrey Schweers, an award-winning journalist and the Orlando Sentinel’s Tallahassee bureau reporter, dropped a report on Sunday that discussed Gaetz's purported past as a "party animal."
In an article entitled "Gaetz’ Bad Boy image finally catches up with him," Schweers writes that Gaetz's "knack for courting controversy has finally caught up with him."
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"The rightwing firebrand, political prankster, steadfast Trump defender and party animal stepped down as the president-elect’s choice for Attorney General once it was made clear to him he didn’t have the needed support in the U.S. Senate. Senators on both sides of the aisle had reacted to the former Florida congressman’s nomination with shock, with one calling him 'a not serious candidate' and others demanding more details about the sex scandals swirling around him for the past few years," according to the article.
Schweers summarizes recent events before going into Gaetz's history as an attorney.
"As a junior lawyer, Gaetz handled mostly run-of-the-mill cases. The Okaloosa County court records show him handling about two cases a year in his home county. His first two cases were traffic infractions, and he also worked on debt and contract disputes, negligence and workers compensation claims," the report states. "One case involved a homeowners association in its dispute against Walton County over the location of a beach volleyball net, records show."
But then the controversy began, according to the reporter.
"After less than a year as a lawyer, Gaetz was pulled over for speeding in his father’s BMW and arrested for drunk driving. He refused to take a breathalyzer test and the charges against him were dropped," Schweers wrote. "He’s been casual about maintaining his practice, Florida Bar records show. He had his license suspended for failing to pay his fees in 2021 but it was reinstated when he paid up. He also was cited for not keeping up with his continuing legal education requirements in 2023. And he was cited two years in a row for not being up to date on his trust account reports."
Not much changed when Gaetz got into politics, the report suggests.
"In 2010, Gaetz ran as a Tea Party Republican and was elected to the Florida House of Representatives. His financial disclosure form said he earned $29,000 from his legal practice that year," it states. "He spent his time defending Florida’s controversial 'stand-your-ground' law and railing against the Affordable Care Act and Medicare. But he was instrumental in getting Florida’s medical marijuana law passed. He quickly got a reputation for lashing out against his political enemies in Florida and that expanded when he went to D.C."
Those criticisms of his colleagues resulted in dust ups, but he also became known for stand-out stances on controversial issues, according to the report.
"As a freshman congressman in 2017, he raised eyebrows when he cast the lone vote against an anti-human trafficking bill," it states.
On Saturday, Gaetz hinted that his next political move might be to run for governor of Florida.
