Court Docs Rip Into DOJ for 'Fiddling Away' on Matt Gaetz Case

[Nevilledog]

https://www.thedailybeast.com/joel-greenberg-court-documents-rip-into-department-of-justice-for-fiddling-away-on-matt-gaetz-case

No paywall
https://archive.ph/84pmM

*snip*

Greenberg used his stint as the elected Seminole County tax collector to enrich himself and turn the office into a criminal enterprise, hiring friends for no-show jobs and rewarding government contracts in exchange for kickbacks. Since his arrest, he’s pleaded guilty and helped local police and federal agents uncover illicit real estate deals, embezzlement of federal COVID-19 paycheck assistance, and a local Republican scheme to run “ghost” candidates.

Greenberg also gave federal law enforcement a ton of damning evidence on Gaetz, sitting for hours with them to answer questions about their rendezvous with girls, according to two sources with knowledge of those sessions.

The Daily Beast exclusively obtained a confession letter Greenberg wrote explaining how Gaetz used him as a middleman to pay for sex with young women and at least one underage girl. The Daily Beast also obtained Greenberg’s non-public Venmo payments, which reflect that arrangement. In one instance, Gaetz paid his pal $900 and wrote “hit up ___” in the memo field, referring to the teenage girl who they started seeing when she was underage.

The FBI opened its investigation into Gaetz in August 2020, the same month Greenberg was charged with trafficking that teen. The New York Times first exposed the existence of that investigation in March 2021. The Daily Beast then revealed the growing body of evidence that Gaetz was actually involved. But in September this year, The Washington Post reported that federal prosecutors had suddenly gotten cold feet, choosing not to file criminal charges against the congressman for the sex trafficking allegations.

*snip*

[uponit7771]

1. After hearing how some cases went on Ultra I'm not holding out for the DOJ, jus ... damn

[brush]

2. Damn! It's always the same scenario. Tons of evidence is...

develop of apparent guilt, then the case is dropped or backed off from (see the NY DA case against trump).

Makes on wonder is money moved to off-shore accounts is involved.

[SoCalDavidS]

3. I Remember All Those Who Said Gaetz Was Going Down

They're the same people who continue to post that TFG will be indicted, dragged away in cuffs, go to jail, etc.

I'LL BELIEVE IT WHEN I DON'T SEE IT.

[LiberalLovinLug]

7. Lots of remembering

[stopdiggin]

4. So says the lawyer

defending the scumbag Greenberg - who we should probably try to remember as the kingpin and central figure in this crime spree - in a really fairly obvious bid to make Greenberg's 'cooperation' with investigations appear more relevant and consequential. So, for what it's worth ...

- Beast - In a court filing Monday night, the attorney representing a key government witness in the sex trafficking investigation finally put into writing a scathing criticism of the DOJ’s inaction.

The rare and aggressive move calls out the DOJ for trying to destroy the life of a local corrupted tax official who snitched on his buddies—Joel Greenberg—but not pursuing a criminal case against the popular, rich Republican congressman who allegedly took part in the drugs and paid for sex with a teenager.

Greenberg’s defense lawyer, Fritz Scheller, ripped into the high-level public corruption prosecutors at DOJ headquarters, suggesting that the case might be better handled locally.

“The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida is the only DOJ office to have brought multiple prosecutions based on Greenberg’s cooperation,” he wrote. “Perhaps the DOJ will return the prosecutions to the capable hands of U.S. Attorneys in the Middle District or the State of Florida.”

boo hoo - "trying to destroy my poor client .." (who was only the one buying the blow, stealing the money, and providing the girls ..)

[Trueblue1968]

5. here is the important part ... just my thougts

In a court filing Monday night, the attorney representing a key government witness in the sex trafficking investigation finally put into writing a scathing criticism of the DOJ’s inaction.

The rare and aggressive move calls out the DOJ for trying to destroy the life of a local corrupted tax official who snitched on his buddies—Joel Greenberg—but not pursuing a criminal case against the popular, rich Republican congressman who allegedly took part in the drugs and paid for sex with a teenager.
Greenberg’s defense lawyer, Fritz Scheller, ripped into the high-level public corruption prosecutors at DOJ headquarters, suggesting that the case might be better handled locally.

“The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida is the only DOJ office to have brought multiple prosecutions based on Greenberg’s cooperation,” he wrote. “Perhaps the DOJ will return the prosecutions to the capable hands of U.S. Attorneys in the Middle District or the State of Florida.”

[Ford_Prefect]

6. IMO the Gaetz situation looks like the old mobster tale of "Connected and Protected".

They haven't indicted him in all this time and the excuse was he was being helpful in other matters. I don't believe that.

IMO Matt has something on some important people that no-one wants made public. I don't have any idea which people they are or who is being protected by leaving Matt walking free so far. The only reason he's free is that it will cause a bigger problem for someone with friends in the right places if Matt gets to meet the judge.

I am not a lawyer and I don't pretend to know what kinds of legal twists could underlay the Gaetz case. The pattern seems clear to me but that doesn't make it so.

One other possibility is that they are waiting to conclude some other case or follow the money, connections, and traffickers Gaetz was tapping into. I don't see any evidence of this but that doesn't mean things aren't going on out of public view. I know that some other trafficking cases have taken quite a long time to run down the networks supplying victims.