Matt Gaetz launches fundraising blitz off his own ethics probe

As the House Ethics Committee investigates him, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) is now fundraising off the possibility the House might try to expel him, as Rep. George Santos (R-NY) recently was, reported Reese Gorman for the conservative Washington Examiner on Wednesday.

"Some RINOs are looking for their next target… ME," said Gaetz's fundraising email, using a common derogatory term meaning "Republicans In Name Only."

“The Swamp dwellers don’t want anything to change, and they are willing to sell America down the river to protect their own interests,” the email continued. “And since I refuse to play ball with these RINOs, they are secretly plotting behind closed doors and looking for ANYTHING they can use to expel me from Congress.”

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Santos, who became a national pariah after reporting that he had fabricated his entire campaign biography, was expelled in an overwhelming bipartisan vote after a scathing report by the House Ethics Committee detailed his alleged theft of campaign funds and obstruction of investigators. He was the sixth member of the House ever to be expelled.

At the same time, Santos is facing federal fraud charges for allegedly obtaining illegal unemployment benefits, swindling campaign donors, and even fraudulently using donors' credit cards for personal expenses. He is reportedly in plea talks with prosecutors.

Gaetz, a far-right Trump loyalist, was one of a small group of lawmakers who initiated the vote that resulted in Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) being removed from the House speakership, triggering weeks of congressional paralysis and chaos in the GOP caucus. At the same time, he has faced a long-running ethics investigation into allegations he participated in sex trafficking, used illicit drugs, and misappropriated campaign funds.

Gaetz denies all these allegations, and a federal criminal probe into the matter ended without charges for him.