Donald Trump isn't even in the White House yet, and already he's failing. Matt Gaetz, the trolliest of Trump's "Legion of Doom" Cabinet appointees, gave up on the dream of being Attorney General on Wednesday. It's not just because the recently-resigned Florida congressman is intensely disliked, as much by fellow Republicans as Democrats. Despite the cowardly efforts of House Republicans to quash the findings of an Ethics Committee investigation into alleged sex crimes by Gaetz, the details kept getting leaked at a rapid pace: Reports of drug-fueled sex parties. Multiple witnesses who testified about seeing Gaetz have sex with an underage girl. An elaborate FBI-created graph showing all the cash exchanging hands allegedly to pay for the sex work and drugs.
The New York Times' Matt Gaetz Venmo diagram: www.nytimes.com/2024/11/20/u...
[image or embed]
— Alex Wagner Tonight (@wagnertonight.bsky.social) November 20, 2024 at 9:03 PM
When CNN called Gaetz to let him know they were publishing another story about witnesses who saw him having sex with the 17-year-old at another orgy, he gave up the ghost, tweeting, "my confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of the Trump/Vance Transition."
Want more Amanda Marcotte on politics? Subscribe to her newsletter Standing Room Only.
This is welcome news, to say the least, and not just because Gaetz was a truly terrifying threat to basic law and order. It's a reminder that resistance is not futile. In the two weeks since Trump won, a dark cloud of depression has gathered over the heads of everyone who cares about the rule of law, basic decency, and freedom in this country. Not just because we rightfully fear the destruction Trump and his Project 2025 minions have planned for our once-great nation. So many people feel hopeless to do anything........