Media For Months Reported On Matt Gaetz Investigation Without Evidence. Gaetz’s Claims Of Extortion Were Just Corroborated, However.

Months ago, the media publicized an FBI investigation involving Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), alleging he had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl, whom he allegedly paid to travel with him. Gaetz denied the allegations and said they were part of an extortion plot against him and his family that the FBI had been working on with them.

It has been five months since the media vociferously covered the Gaetz investigation, based on anonymous leaks to The New York Times. As I wrote at the time, publicizing an investigation like this seeks to destroy the accused in the court of public opinion without needing evidence to back up those assertions. Some of the allegations against Gaetz should have been easy to corroborate, like flight details, yet the absence of such information led some to believe the allegations were politically motivated.