Rep. Matt Gaetz said he’s “taking counsel” of possible media lawsuits during a Monday appearance on Newsmax, the latest in the Florida Republican’s ongoing accusations battle.
While sitting down on “Rob Schmitt Tonight,” Gaetz explained that “there’s a very high bar legally” to suing media outlets as an elected official and that he’s primarily focused on “the things ahead, not necessarily reliving this last experience.”
“There’s a lot of work to do if Republicans take the majority, and I expect we will,” Gaetz said of the midterm elections. “And I want to be central to the work of defining that agenda.”
His comments were made in the backdrop of the Justice Department revelation it would likely not seek any charges against the congressman following an investigation into sex trafficking allegations, according to The Washington Post.
Gaetz had been the victim of an extortion scheme stemming from the investigation that landed serial scammer Stephen Alford in prison for five years, Northwest Florida Daily News reported last month.
The 62-year-old had attempted to obtain $25 million from Gaetz’s father, former state Senate President Don Gaetz, in exchange for making his son’s charges go away. Alford had claimed he needed the money to free a man imprisoned in Iran.
However, with Alford in jail and Gaetz cleared of charges in his own probe, the Florida congressman said he’s relishing in the new-found exoneration.
“It took probably longer than I would have hoped for the truth to come out. It hasn’t been the easiest 18 months for me. But I’m glad with the truth emerging, I’m able to focus more diligently on my work in the Congress,” he told host Rob Schmitt.
Gaetz recently won the Republican nomination for his North Florida district by a 43-point margin and will face Democrat activist Rebekah Jones in November, according to Ballotpedia.
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