Gaetz responded with an op-ed in the Washington Examiner (No link due to a huge obnoxious and instrusive autoplay video which seems to appear on all their articles. Really embarrassing in 2021. They need a website redesign big-time). Reminiscent of Nixon, he declared he is not a crook. He also said he’s not a monk, just a congressman. And he claimed: “ I have never, ever paid for sex. And second, I, as an adult man, have not slept with a 17-year-old."

It sounds like Matt Gaetz is going to keep talking –and may just talk himself into an Indictment, given the other forces that seem to be in play, including:

The pending Third Superseding Indictment against a fellow politico in Florida named Joel Greenberg for sex trafficking of minors and other crimes.

Greenberg’s lawyer announced yesterday his client would probably take a deal within the next few weeks and if he were Gaetz, he wouldn’t feel too comfortable right now. (Unusual comment, considering the lengths defense lawyers typically go to in order to give the impression their client is pleading guilty without cooperating. Cooperating is hardly a badge of honor in the criminal defense universe).

Then there are recent revelations that an Orlando hand surgeon and marijuana entrepreneur named Jason Pirozzolo is alleged to have funded a trip to the Bahamas that Gaetz and possibly other Florida politicians were associated with. Dr. Pirozzolo’s name is now scrubbed from the medical practice website. Here is the cached version from earlier yesterday.

According to CBS News, Dr. Pirozzolo, who is a Gaetz campaign donor, and Gaetz went to the Bahamas in late 2018 or early 2019. CBS sources say Pirozzolo footed the bill for travel and hotel costs and for female escorts on the trip. The question is whether the women were illegally transported across state or international lines for sex with Gaetz. Investigators may also be looking at whether Gaetz gave out political access or legislative favors in exchange for being provided paid escorts.

Then there is the New York Times report that the 17 year old female who is the subject of one of the Greenberg counts in the Indictment is the same female to whom Gaetz allegedly provided a benefit to in exchange for sex.

The Justice Department inquiry is also examining whether Mr. Gaetz had sex with a 17-year-old girl and whether she received anything of material value, according to four people familiar with the investigation. The sex trafficking count against Mr. Greenberg involved the same girl, according to two people briefed on the investigation.

The authorities have also investigated whether other men connected to Mr. Gaetz and Mr. Greenberg had sex with the 17-year-old, two of the people said.

The New York Times article reports that the FBI has interviewed the women involved, and they said they had sex with both Greenberg and Gaetz, and not only that but:

In some cases, Mr. Gaetz asked women to help find others who might be interested in having sex with him and his friends, according to two people familiar with those conversations. Should anyone inquire about their relationships, one person said, Mr. Gaetz told the women to say that he had paid for hotel rooms and dinners as part of their dates.

My biggest question is why is Matt Gaetz still giving interviews and tweeting about this investigation? The only answer I can think of (other than getting really bad advice from whatever Republican crisis counselor he is using) is that he just doesn’t understand the federal sex trafficking laws. Someone should email him a copy of 18 U.S.C. §1591, Sex Trafficking of Children or by Force, Fraud or Coercion. Here is DOJ's "Cliff Notes" version.

It’s not going to matter whether he knew she was 17 or not.

© In a prosecution under subsection [18 USCS § 1591](a)(1) in which the defendant had a reasonable opportunity to observe the person so recruited, enticed, harbored, transported, provided, obtained, maintained, patronized, or solicited, the Government need not prove that the defendant knew, or recklessly disregarded the fact, that the person had not attained the age of 18 years.

It's also not going to matter whether he paid her expenses or someone else did, she flew with him or he flew alone, whether he paid her for the sex in cash, or even if they actually engaged in sex.

I wonder if this particular 17 year old was registered on the website “Seeking Arrangement”, which bills itself as a place for “Sugar Babies” to meet “Sugar Daddies” and “Sugar Mommas”. According to the Times, it’s where Greenberg found some of the girls. Interestingly, Seeking Arrangement has quite a strong anti-trafficking page on their website.

As to potential penalties for sex trafficking offenses, here's a 2018 U.S. Sentencing Commission Primer on the topic.

Matt Gaetz of course is presumed innocent. But that doesn't change my impression he is his own worst enemy and needs to STFU. He thinks he's playing a public relations game and trying to keep his seat in Congress when his strategy should be to lawyer up and focus on avoiding having to spend the next 10 years in prison.