Gaetzgate

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Aribeth Zelin

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If she's 18, she's 18. She's of legal age as an adult. That "less than six months ago" comment is sleazy and irrelevant.
Except it could be important if it turns out that he'd been having sex with her more than 6 months.

Also, it might be legal age, but if he's in his 30s, its still of questionable morality, and well, sleazy.
 

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Except it could be important if it turns out that he'd been having sex with her more than 6 months.

Also, it might be legal age, but if he's in his 30s, its still of questionable morality, and well, sleazy.
There's already one possible underage girl, and claims they paid women to travel just to have sex with themselves and others. The questionable level of Gaetz's morality is not much in question at this point.
 

Beebo Brink

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Except it could be important if it turns out that he'd been having sex with her more than 6 months.

Also, it might be legal age, but if he's in his 30s, its still of questionable morality, and well, sleazy.
I'm not defending Gaetz, but I do object to yellow journalism tactics. He's not being charged for immoral sleazy ethics, he's being investigated for illegal behavior. If there's any evidence or reason to believe he "dated" her when she was underage, then they need to say that. Otherwise, mentioning that she's just recently turned 18 comes closer to pearl-clutching than relevant reporting. If she's 18 then it's legal.
 

Innula Zenovka

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I'm not defending Gaetz, but I do object to yellow journalism tactics. He's not being charged for immoral sleazy ethics, he's being investigated for illegal behavior. If there's any evidence or reason to believe he "dated" her when she was underage, then they need to say that. Otherwise, mentioning that she's just recently turned 18 comes closer to pearl-clutching than relevant reporting. If she's 18 then it's legal.
Obviously I don't know US Federal law but I think I read somewhere sane that her age is irrelevant when it comes to transporting women and girls across state lines for "immoral purposes." That is, if, as it is apparently alleged, he paid for a sex worker's plane ticket in order to have sex with her, and that took her out of state, then he's in trouble.
 

Aribeth Zelin

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I'm not defending Gaetz, but I do object to yellow journalism tactics. He's not being charged for immoral sleazy ethics, he's being investigated for illegal behavior. If there's any evidence or reason to believe he "dated" her when she was underage, then they need to say that. Otherwise, mentioning that she's just recently turned 18 comes closer to pearl-clutching than relevant reporting. If she's 18 then it's legal.
Well, sex trafficing isn't legal, regardless of age; doing MDMA isn't legal; so, its not legal anyway?
 

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Oh good lord...

A boutique conservative consultancy group working on behalf of Rep. Matt Gaetz is threatening to sue journalists for their coverage of the embattled congressman.
“We are seeking an immediate print and on-air statement of retraction. Failure to comply with this request may result in litigation,” Elmore wrote in an email to a POLITICO reporter on Wednesday following the publication of an article describing the reluctance among Trump and his allies to outright defend Gaetz.

“President Trump issued a statement indicating that Congressman Gaetz has never sought a Presidential Pardon. Such a statement would also indicate that President Donald Trump has not distanced himself from Congressman Gaetz,” Elmore contended.
 

Cindy Claveau

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Obviously I don't know US Federal law but I think I read somewhere sane that her age is irrelevant when it comes to transporting women and girls across state lines for "immoral purposes." That is, if, as it is apparently alleged, he paid for a sex worker's plane ticket in order to have sex with her, and that took her out of state, then he's in trouble.
Exactly.

There are several threads of illegality involved in this. Underage girls is just one, but not the only one. She could be a fully-grown adult and he still can't legally transport her across state lines and pay her for sex.
 

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Well, sex trafficing isn't legal, regardless of age; doing MDMA isn't legal; so, its not legal anyway?
This is likely to shock a number of people, but the interplay of sex and powerful men is something we have seen before....


Here is the legal structure that Former Gov. Spitzer forgot about (even though he was the New York Attorney General):


Surely someone as smart and savvy as Rep. Gaetz would know how to avoid all this by simply keeping his pants on and not being such a steaming pile of.... Oh... Never mind.
 

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Surely someone as smart and savvy as Rep. Gaetz would know how to avoid all this by simply keeping his pants on and not being such a steaming pile of.... Oh... Never mind.
Ah yes. The Mann Act. That law that was used to prosecute interracial relationships, premarital relationships, extramarital relationships, etc. Also to arrest and convict rapists, sex traffickers, and others.

Some famous people have been caught up in legal issues because of that Act. Like heavy-weight boxing champion Jack Johnson. Who, it is important to note in this instance, was a black man married to a white woman. Also Charlie Chaplin (arrested for paying the train fare for his mistress to return home (away from him)), Frank Lloyd Wright (arrested for traveling with his future wife (she wasn't married at the time, though had previously been, he, though was married to a different woman at the time)). And Charles Manson. Arrested for transporting two prostitutes (charges dropped).
 

Aribeth Zelin

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Ah yes. The Mann Act. That law that was used to prosecute interracial relationships, premarital relationships, extramarital relationships, etc. Also to arrest and convict rapists, sex traffickers, and others.

Some famous people have been caught up in legal issues because of that Act. Like heavy-weight boxing champion Jack Johnson. Who, it is important to note in this instance, was a black man married to a white woman. Also Charlie Chaplin (arrested for paying the train fare for his mistress to return home (away from him)), Frank Lloyd Wright (arrested for traveling with his future wife (she wasn't married at the time, though had previously been, he, though was married to a different woman at the time)). And Charles Manson. Arrested for transporting two prostitutes (charges dropped).
Okay? There are plenty of laws used wrongly to punish people, or that have led to people being victimized.

So, like women who've had miscarriages, being charged with a crime by law that was supposedly designed to protect them from domestic violence.

Or women who aren't super dainty and delicate being accosted for using the 'wrong' bathroom because of those bathroom bills....

Doesn't mean the law is at fault; just the implementation of it is/was.
 

Beebo Brink

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Obviously I don't know US Federal law but I think I read somewhere sane that her age is irrelevant when it comes to transporting women and girls across state lines for "immoral purposes." That is, if, as it is apparently alleged, he paid for a sex worker's plane ticket in order to have sex with her, and that took her out of state, then he's in trouble.
Which yet again means that the fact that she turned 18 "only six months ago" is not all that relevant. There's plenty of damning actions, so that particular comment just struck me as gratuitous. Either she's a minor or her age is irrelevant, so why bring up that she was a minor 6 months previously?
 
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Which yet again means that the fact that she turned 18 "only six months ago" is not all that relevant. There's plenty of damning actions, so that particular comment just struck me as gratuitous. Either she's a minor or her age is irrelevant, so why bring up that she was a minor 6 months previously?
It's relevant, I think, since Gaetz is alleged to be under federal investigation concerning allegations that, on at least one occasion, he actually did have sex with a girl who was, in fact, underage at the time.

If the allegation about the 18-year-old are true, then that seems to me suggest that Gaetz does find very young women sexually attractive -- so much so that he's prepared to pay to have sex with one -- and I'd think it adds a degree of credibility to idea the FBI is, indeed, investigating him in connection with allegations about underage girls.

At the moment, of course, all we've got is rumour and gossip, and he may well not have committed any crimes at all (and there's no evidence he actually did seek a pardon for anything), but that's what makes that particular piece of gossip relevant to all the other parts of the story, to my mind.