A New York Times columnist claimed “repellently sleazy behavior” described in the Ethics Committee's report on former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) mirrored that of Donald Trump.
David Firestone wrote with amazement on Monday that the president-elect wanted to give the subject of the report the position of attorney general — a nomination that was ultimately shot down.
But then, Firestone wrote, he shouldn’t be shocked — as the character described in the report was one similar to Trump’s own.
“There is so much repellently sleazy behavior documented in the House Ethics Committee report about Matt Gaetz that a reader has to stop every few pages to look away and focus on what still seems astounding: This is the man that Donald Trump wanted to be the attorney general of the United States, the highest-ranking law enforcement official in the land, the leader of the Department of Justice.” Firestone wrote.
“Trump wanted to give that position to a man who paid at least half a dozen women for sex, according to the report. And the violation of Florida’s prostitution law isn’t even the real depravity; the committee took pains to spell out the underlying implication of his actions:’“Representative Gaetz took advantage of the economic vulnerability of young women to lure them into sexual activity for which they received an average of a few hundred dollars after each encounter.’”
The report looked into allegations that Gaetz violated many rules of conduct in Congress. It concluded with a claim that the now-former representative paid a 17-year-old for sex, among many other allegations.
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“Nonetheless,” Firestone went on, “when you read through the details, you can see the commonality between the two men, and the reasons Trump held Gaetz in high esteem. It’s not just the contempt for women as disposable commodities for hire or plunder; it’s the contempt for the law.”
Firestone detailed claims that Gaetz tried to hinder the investigation into him by not providing requested evidence, blaming others for his situation and claiming Democratic colleagues in Congress have done much worse.
He’s also accused of trying to bully witnesses into not giving evidence against him.
“Does that sound familiar?” asked Firestone.
“It’s a summary of the conduct we’ve seen from the president-elect for years, whenever the law tries to make him responsible for his conduct. In many ways, these two men think the same way about authority, and in that sense, Gaetz would have been an ideal attorney general for the next administration.”