Gaetz Hostage Rescue Blackmail Sex Scandal

EP-059 Gaetz Hostage Rescue Blackmail Sex Scandal A rising star within the Trump GOP, a retired Air Force Intelligence Officer, and the longest held United States hostage in the history of the country.  Sprinkle in a sugar daddy dating website and a convicted fraudster, and now you have a glimpse of the Matt Gaetz Hostage Rescue Blackmail Sex Scandal. One of the most difficult tasks I encountered when working on this podcast was:  Where to start?  The chronology of events is confusing and marred by anonymous sources.  The tale quickly branches out into seemingly disconnected threads of information.  It’s hard to see the story from a high elevation to put it together, and the varied political interests involved muddy the factual playing field. Throughout this podcast I will try to be as clear as possible what information is factual, and what information is gleaned from dubious sourcing.  One thing is for sure:  Matt Gaetz is a smarmy dude. Joel Greenberg: Smarmy could not begin to describe Matt Gaetz associate Joel Greenberg.  Mr. Greenberg was elected to the position of Seminole County Tax Collector in November 2016.  His campaign ran on a platform to destroy corruption inside the Seminole County government.  But before the end of his term he had been arrested and charged with numerous Federal crimes he allegedly committed while executing the public service duties of Tax Collector. Some highlights of the accusations include: Stalking a political opponent Using public money to fund his reelection campaign Child sex trafficking Legal trouble started for Greenberg with his reelection campaign.  It is alleged that everyone’s favorite tax collector fraudulently represented children from the school his campaign rival worked at.  He created letters from the children that accused his opponent of sexual misconduct.  Then he created fake Twitter and Facebook profiles to support the claims in the smear campaign … allegedly.  Investigators have released that Mr. Greenberg left DNA and fingerprints on the letters, and the fake social media accounts were all created from the same IP address.  The location of the IP address was none other than Greenberg’s home.  Generally speaking, criminals don’t always have the highest IQ.  Greenberg’s charm is only matched by his intellect. Upon closer scrutiny it is alleged that Greenberg was using the Seminole County Tax Collector’s office as a fund for personal gain.  A guy that promised to end corruption in the Seminole County government seems to have become drunk with power.  There are stories of Greenberg pulling over speeders with his tax collectors badge and open carry pistol on his hip.  It is alleged he used over $400k in public funds he embezzled from the Tax Collector’s office to buy crypto currency and sports memorabilia.  Curiously during Greenberg’s reign the Tax Collector office spent more than $1.4 million for legal fees.  A typical spend during the same timeframe is less than $30k.  Over $1 million was spent on consultants.  It is alleged these consultant entities were created after Greenberg took office, and quickly dissolved after he resigned.  Further rumors question whether these consultants were associated with Greenberg’s wedding party.  Auditors discovered one interesting purchase by the Tax Collector’s office:  In May 2017 a company purchased la