‘Dress up like Democrats’: Matt Gaetz slams GOP rivals in CPAC speech

NATIONAL HARBOR, MD— Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida on Friday attacked his GOP opponents and the House of Representatives Committee on Ethics for investigating him during a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).

Gaetz has been under investigation since 2021 by the committee on allegations that he had sexual relations with a minor under the age of 18, stemming from the indictment and conviction of an acquaintance, former Seminole County Tax Collector Joel Greenberg, according to The New York Times. During his speech at CPAC, Gaetz attacked the committee’s chairman, Republican Rep. Michael Guest of Mississippi, as well as other rival GOP members, and suggested that he used his official position to benefit from stock trades.

“The word is that I now have problems with the Ethics Committee, which seems really odd to me because I’m the one screaming loudest for actual ethics reforms,” Gaetz said. “The Republican Ethics Chairman Michael Guest not only voted for the January 6 Commission, he has become a brilliant stock trader while in office, and I admire the obvious genius.”

We shouldn’t have ANY foreign aid to ANY other country without corresponding cuts to our own bloated federal budget.

If you want to send aid to Israel, pay for it by defunding the United Nations.

The U.S. should be out of the @UN, and the UN should be out of the U.S.! pic.twitter.com/MuO0gmhoRx

— Rep. Matt Gaetz (@RepMattGaetz) February 23, 2024

“He knew exactly the right time to buy online gambling stocks. This purchase of…securities netted him a hefty 36%. Again, not too shabby. Now, I’m not saying that this is insider trading, but, this monetary affair is perhaps the most suspicious I’ve seen since Fani Willis and Nathan Wade,” Gaetz said.

Gaetz had previously been under investigation by the FBI, though the Department of Justice(DOJ) in 2023 declined to pursue charges against him. Gaetz reportedly suggested that his ongoing investigation, which is independent of the results of any criminal proceeding, is the reason he led the effort to remove Kevin McCarthy as the speaker of the House, according to The Daily Beast.

“You could have bet on the ride up with Michael Guest on gambling stocks. You could have made millions like Nancy Pelosi did on Nvidia. Or, maybe, you’ll get a big return on a Raytheon purchase with armed services member and Oklahoma Senator Markwayne Mullin,” Gaetz noted.

Mullin has been a close ally of McCarthy, who resigned from Congress on Dec. 31, 2023, and has previously accused Gaetz of graphically describing his sexual relations with women to other members of Congress. “He bragged about how he would crush E.D. medicine and chase it with energy drinks so he could go all night,” Mullin told CNN.

“Those of us who have worked with him already know that. He should focus on his own ethics issues instead of spreading false Hill rumors,” Mullin wrote on Feb. 14 on Twitter, now known as X.

“You see when I offer these critiques that include the conduct of some fellow Republicans. I catch a lot of heat, Gaetz said. “I prefer to just fight the Democrats, but if the Republicans are going to dress up like Democrats and drag it, then I will lead the fight against them.”

Guest and Mullin’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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