GOP Sen. Markwayne Mullin accuses McCarthy-ouster Matt Gaetz of showing colleagues videos of girls he had sex with and of bragging about taking E.D. medicine with energy drinks to ‘go all night’
A Republican senator was outraged by Matt Gaetz’s efforts to impeach Kevin McCarthy, as the Speaker of the House of Representatives claimed Wednesday that Gaetz was widely disliked and shunned in his party after he bragged about his sexual escapades.
Markwayne Mullin, who represents Oklahoma, said Gaetz shared video footage of the women he slept with.
In the final months of the Trump administration, the Justice Department began an investigation into allegations that Gaetz trafficked a 17-year-old for sex. The existence of the study was confirmed in March 2021.
Mullin, a McCarthy supporter, said that when the allegations about Gaetz emerged in early 2021, “the media didn’t give him the time” because he was not seen as a major figure.
Mullin also noted that none of his colleagues defended him at the time.
“And there’s a reason why no one in Congress came to his defense: because we’d all seen the videos he showed on the House floor – which we’d all walked away from – of the girls he’d slept with,” Mullin told CNN.
Markwayne Mullin, a senator for Oklahoma, told CNN on Wednesday that Matt Gaetz had shown video of the women he had slept with and bragged about his exploits
Gaetz, 41, denied Mullin’s claim, saying it was “a lie” told by someone who barely knew him
“He bragged about how he would crush up medicine in the emergency room and top it with energy drinks so he could stay up all night.
“This was obviously before he got married.”
Gaetz, 41, married his girlfriend Ginger Luckey in August 2021 after meeting at a party at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.
Mullin also echoed the oft-aired criticism of Gaetz as an attention seeker.
“Suddenly he became famous for opposing the Speaker of the House of Representatives in November,” he said.
‘And he stayed there forever. And he would never leave again until he got this last moment of glory…by filing a motion to vacate.”
Gaetz, in a statement to CNN that host Anderson Cooper later read on air, denied Mullin’s claim of inappropriate behavior.
“I don’t think Markwayne Mullin and I said 20 words to each other on the House floor,” Gaetz said.
“This is a lie from someone who doesn’t know me and who has to do with the death of his friend Kevin’s political career. Thoughts and prayers.”
Gaetz is pictured with his wife Ginger on January 1, 2022. They married in August 2021, shortly after the Justice Department’s investigation into sex trafficking allegations was made public.
The Justice Department’s investigation into allegations of sex trafficking and sex with a minor was dropped in February, when prosecutors concluded they did not have enough evidence to file charges.
But Gaetz still faces a House committee investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct, use of illegal drugs and misuse of funds.
Gaetz has argued that the two-year, sweeping investigation into his conduct is the work of McCarthy and his allies, who he claims are out to smear him.
McCarthy emphasized again on Monday that he could not block the investigation into Gaetz: On Tuesday, after he was ousted, McCarthy said it was because Gaetz had a personal dislike for him.
Gaetz said Tuesday that this was “an urban legend” and angrily denied that he had taken action against McCarthy as revenge for McCarthy’s failure to block the ethics investigation.
Matt Gaetz denied Tuesday that he took action against Kevin McCarthy as revenge for McCarthy’s failure to block an ethics investigation into him
Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz led the uprising against Kevin McCarthy
When asked by Fox News host Laura Ingraham if he was running against McCarthy out of revenge, Gaetz replied, “That’s completely false.”
He added: “I am the most investigated man in the entire United States Congress.
“I’ve been cleared by the FBI, DoJ, the Federal Election Commission. And so I…’
When Ingraham pressed him on his distaste for McCarthy, Gaetz replied, “That’s an urban legend.”
He then shifted to discussing McCarthy’s claim that Gaetz and his allies were not true conservatives, angrily defending his ruthless fundraising amid the chaos.
‘People see that your fundraising campaigns are about this right away. You raise money. It’s chaos right now,” Ingraham said.
Gaetz replied testily, “Yes, if I can just say something here. I am the only Republican in the entire United States Congress who accepts no lobbying money and no PAC money.
“So absolutely, I communicate daily and powerfully with everyday Americans.
“Because the only way I can achieve my political goals is for ordinary people to give me 10, 20, 30 dollars.
“And so I won’t take sermons from people like people who do three lobbyist fundraisers as a day job and trade favors to get money from special interest on how I raise money.
“And I’m deeply offended by anyone who wants to criticize the mailman, the active duty member, the grandmother who believes in me and goes to Matt gaetz.com and donates.
“Actually, I hope they do that now and I don’t regret it at all because I won’t take the lobbyist and PAC money like every other person does.”
He also boasted, in a closing jab at McCarthy, about his close relationship with his fellow countryman, Donald Trump, and said McCarthy would not be welcome at a Trump rally.
Former President Donald Trump and Rep. Matt Gaetz are close — the two are seen above at a November 2019 campaign rally in Florida
“I would say my conversations with the former president give me great confidence that I’m doing the right thing,” Rep. Matt Gaetz said of his conversations with Donald Trump
Trump remains the de facto leader of the Republicans and is the absolute frontrunner for the 2024 nomination.
“I support President Trump, who would like to campaign with him,” Gaetz said.
“I’ll probably keep our private conversations to ourselves, but I’m in good stead with the former president.
“You know who you won’t see on the campaign trail at a big rally: Kevin McCarthy.
“Because if Kevin McCarthy took the stage at a Trump rally, he would be booed like Lindsey Graham.”
McCarthy has confirmed he will not make another bid for speaker of the House of Representatives after he was removed from office on Tuesday in a historic vote sparked by a tumultuous civil war in the Republican Party.
He made the announcement Tuesday evening, a few hours after eight Republican lawmakers joined Democrats in removing him from his leadership position.
“I will not be running for speaker again,” McCarthy said during a nearly hour-long news conference that veered from combative to laughing.
‘Maybe I lost the mood today. But as I leave this room, I feel fortunate to have served the American people,” he said.
‘I leave the speakership with a sense of pride and satisfaction. And yes, optimism.’
In his remarks, he castigated Democrats, especially their longtime leader Nancy Pelosi, and his nemesis, Gaetz, who led the move to remove him from the speaker’s office.
McCarthy’s surprise decision will open the floodgates for Republican candidates and could lead to weeks of unrest within the party as Congress faces a Nov. 17 deadline to prevent another government shutdown.
House Republicans met behind closed doors Tuesday evening to discuss the fallout from the historic vote that led to McCarthy, R-Calif., becoming the first speaker in the 234-year history of the U.S. Congress to have the gavel turned taken by colleagues. legislators.