When no one in Congress wanted anything to do with George Santos— and no one would sit near him— he made one friend: Matt Gaetz. And Gaetz invited him to be part of the little rejects corner than included the transgressive, “unpopular kids,” like Lauren Boebert, Anna Paulina Luna, Andy Ogles, Marjorie Traitor Greene, Eli Crane, Andy Clyde… Gaetz’s own little clique. So when Gaetz’s Hail Mary failed this week, it was Santos who reached out to him. He suggested that Gaetz, who, unlike Santos, is from a wealthy family and is all set financially, join Cameo. And it appears that he has! This saga just gets weirder and weirder. I wonder how much he’d charge to do a session with Nestor.
Now last we heard, Gaetz is plotting revenge against his congressional tormentors, threatening to expose corruption in the House, starting with stock trading that appears to be connected to inside information, which isn’t just against House rules but is also illegal. So awesome that he’s starting with New Jersey crook Josh Gottheimer, who is currently busy mounting a gubernatorial campaign.
And it’s newsy for Gaetz news followers that Gaetz announced yesterday that he’s not returning to Congress as part of the 119th Congress; he had only retired from the 118th. He told Charlie Kirk that he’s “still going to be in the fight, but it’s going to be from a new perch. I do not intend to join the 119th Congress… I’m going to be fighting for President Trump. I’m going to be doing whatever he asks of me, as I always have. But I think that eight years is probably enough time in the United States Congress… I am so excited about where this transition stands, and I know there are people disappointed that I won’t be the next attorney general, but you have to understand this is the political process, and sometimes the path you’re on is one that takes you to a different place, and it could be a glorious place. My good friend Pam Bondi is going to be a phenomenal attorney general for Donald Trump. She has the legal acumen. She hates criminals. She is a bright legal mind and a fellow Floridian.”
He also complained about the confirmation process to Kirk. “There is a play that is run in Washington when they’re trying to smear somebody and they go and dredge up false, years old allegations of the most salacious and click bait-y flavor possible... I was dealing with a politically motivated body. They didn’t like me because of what I did to Kevin McCarthy. And they had an axe to grind. So that was going to serve as at least enough of a basis to delay my confirmation as attorney general.”
Ron DeSantis picked April Fools’ Day as the date of the special election to replace Gaetz (though Mike Waltz’s special election will have a later date, since his gig as Trump’s national security advisor hasn’t been confirmed yet). With the two of them out of Congress for January, February and Match (+ April for Waltz) as well as Elise Stefanik also removed, unless the Republicans win at least two of the three uncalled races, they won’t have the 218 seats required to organize Congress (nor will the Democrats). It could be a 216-216 tie! Yesterday Derek Tran increased his margin over GOP incumbent Michelle Steel—he leads by 519 votes— while John Duarte (R-CA) lost a bit more ground to Adam Gray (who is down by just 210 votes with about 5,500 votes still uncounted). The race that doesn’t seem to move, Iowa’s first congressional district, has Mariannette Miller-Meeks leading Democrat Christina Bohanan by 800 votes, 2 fewer than Thursday.
If he took down Gottheimer I would send him a Christmas gift. He's a stain, I guess one of many, on the Democratic brand.