Like hyenas at the broken-leg buffet on the Serengeti, the media gorged for months on the delicious, salacious story of Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL). But now that the truth is out, will a mea culpa follow – and did the big-box outlets already know he was innocent as they gnawed on his bones?
The Department of Justice recently indicted 62-year-old Stephen Alford as the mastermind behind an evil extortion plot to make millions off the young congressman’s family. Alford, believing $25 million would be easily pocketed to protect Gaetz’s reputation, misjudged the lawmaker.
As the DOJ states in the pesky paperwork:
“Stephen M. Alford did knowingly and willfully devise, and intent to devise, a scheme to defraud and for obtaining money and property by means of material false and fraudulent pretenses, representations, and promises, and for the promise of executing such scheme, did cause, and attempt to cause, a wire communication to be transmitted in interstate commerce.”
Matt Gaetz
(Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
It would seem to have been prudent to listen to the rising star in Republican politics when he told media outlets his dad had been wearing a wire, and that “No part of the allegations against me are true, and the people pushing these lies are targets of the ongoing extortion investigation.”
Well, Oops, What a Racket
Rep. Gaetz has been adamant in stating his innocence since the first uncredited report surfaced. He continually denied and decried accusations of sex trafficking, lewd and lurid sexual exploits with consenting women and underage girls, and a slew of unseemly and illegal activities unbecoming of a rising political star. Finally, under intense scrutiny by activist pundits, the media was rewarded with a response from Gaetz last spring on Twitter:
“Over the past several weeks, my family and I have been victims of organized criminal extortion involving a former DOJ official seeking $25 million while threatening to smear my name. We have been cooperating with federal authorities in this matter.”
Alford is not one to leave unattended with your wallet. The Fort Walton man was previously convicted of defrauding the United States Air Force over a land swap, grand theft of $100,000, and was released on ten years’ probation in 2019.
Apparently, his biggest mistake to date was attempting to extort the Gaetz family. If convicted, Alford could be eating bologna sandwiches, wearing prison moccasins, looking over his shoulder in the shower, and dreaming about getting out in 25 years or so.
A relieved Gaetz stated on Twitter: “Those he was working with to extort me on a pile of lies should be next.”
But maybe there is yet another group of folks complicit with political goal-oriented reporting.
Wipe Off the Egg and Report the Truth Now
Hard-left and mainstream outlets gushed while repeating anonymous allegations that any normal person would find disturbing and disgusting. They filled themselves on rumors, innuendos, and whisper campaigns, not caring whether Gaetz was telling the truth and was, in fact, a victim of a political and criminal hit. Perhaps now the activist media will give Mr. Gaetz a line or two of facts, not fiction, and demand sources and citations for questionable and potentially combustible, career-ending stories. But don’t hold your breath for an en masse media mea culpa – you may turn bluer than them.
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