Things Are Looking More Serious For Gaetz
- Another week, another round of bad news for Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL). On Monday, a former Florida state representative described how Gaetz was a major opponent of his bill outlawing “revenge porn.”
- Gaetz isn’t letting a still-unfolding scandal stand in the way of his war chest. On Tuesday, Gaetz fundraised off the matter. “It is a shame that the Left tries to drag my dating life into their political attacks, but it’s no surprise — when your ideas suck, you have to stoop this low,” Gaetz said before asking supporters for donations.
- A group of nameless women from Gaetz’s office vouched for the congressman on Thursday, saying: “On every occasion he has treated each and every one of us with respect,” the statement read. “Thus, we uniformly reject these allegations as false.”
- And on Friday night, Gaetz is scheduled to speak at one of Trump’s properties in Florida. The group he’s speaking to? Women for America First, who hosted one of the Jan. 6 rallies that devolved into the insurrection.
- It’s unclear when Gaetz found out that he is under investigation for possible child sex trafficking. But he did request a blanket pardon from President Trump during the waning days of his presidency.
- Things might have taken a turn for the worse for Gaetz Thursday when Joel Greenberg, a friend of the congressman, indicated he will change his plea after facing four grand jury indictments alleging everything from sex trafficking to wire fraud.
Conservatives Vs. Corporations … Wait, What?
- The business community continues to push back against restrictive voting legislation across the country. This week in Arizona, a group of Phoenix business leaders called one proposed bill “voter suppression cloaked as reform.”
- TPM’s Matt Shuham wrote about corporations speaking out more forcefully against restrictive voting legislation, in part as a result of increased pressure from activists but also from the companies’ own workforces.
- Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who has condemned corporations for wading into politics, got an earful on Tuesday.
- Later in the week, McConnell accused Democrats of “playing the race card” with their opposition to the Georgia law.
- Meanwhile, Indiana is inching closer to adding an ID requirement to mail-in voting.
Whither The Filibuster?
- It wouldn’t be a week in Washington without a focus on filibuster reform. How’s it looking? Not great, to be honest. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), a key vote in the 50-50 split Senate, said this week that he’s not about to weaken the procedural stalling tactic. And he seems pretty dug in on that position.
- The White House responded to Manchin with a few nice words about working through the process and collaborating with Schumer.
- Earlier this week, Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-NY) signaled that she would be willing to tweak the filibuster in order to pass Democrats’ ambitious pro-democracy package. Feinstein’s position is significant, given her relatively traditional approach to the workings of the Senate.
- On Thursday evening, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-NY) gave a confounding endorsement of the voting rights bill, HR1, neglecting to mention that her opposition to filibuster reform stands athwart the success of the legislation.
