January 1, Gaetz Scandal Details Raise Tough Questions

Wyatt’s Take

• A former Florida congressman’s scandal involved a 17-year-old girl struggling to get by.
• Court records show she was homeless at times and worked fast food to help support herself.
• The Justice Department did not charge the congressman, though his friend was sent to prison.

New court records shed more light on Matt Gaetz’s case, showing the teenager at the center of the scandal was living a tough life back in 2017. At the time, she was a high school junior in Florida, splitting her time between her divorced parents, sometimes staying in shelters.

She worked at McDonald’s and tried to make ends meet in any way she could, including using a website that linked up young women with older men. While still a minor, she met a local tax official, Joel Greenberg, who paid her for sex before bringing her to a party attended by Gaetz.

The woman’s lawyer said,

“The vulnerable circumstances most crime victims face are rarely known to the public.”

Gaetz keeps denying that he did anything illegal and says,

“I never had sex with this person. This person threatened me with a lawsuit if I didn’t pay her $2.3 million dollars. … She never sued me because her story is fiction.”

According to official reports, she said she had sex with Gaetz after meeting him, including once on a game table. Later, Joel Greenberg went to prison for more than ten years, but Gaetz did not face charges. The Justice Department dropped the investigation.

Stories like these remind us how the powerful can become wrapped up in controversy. For working families trying to teach right from wrong, this makes us wonder who’s really looking out for our kids in today’s world. Character counts. We all want a country where every young person gets a fair shot at a decent future.

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Wyatt Matters

This story is a tough example of what can happen when families break down and kids get left behind. It’s a reminder that our communities need to look out for one another, and that power and influence shouldn’t put anyone above doing what’s right.