>>> WELCOME PACK TO "THE BEAT." >>> WELCOME PACK TO "THE BEAT." WE HAVE BEEN COVERING MORE THAN ONE BIG STORY HERE. AND THIS CAME UP WHEN I WAS DISCUSSING IT WITH NICOLE WALLACE AT THE TOP OF OUR PROGRAM. THESE ARE EXPLOSIVE ALLEGATIONS AGAINST A PROMINENT REPUBLICAN CONGRESSMAN. A DOJ PROBE OVER ALLEGATIONS OF A PAY FOR SEX SCHEME. THE TIMES CITING SOURCES THAT SAY THIS IS ALL ABOUT CONGRESSMAN GAETZ’S INVOLVEMENT WITH MULTIPLE WOMEN RECRUITED ON LINE OR SEX AND RECEIVING CASH PAYMENTS. IT INITIATED WITH A FORMER FLORIDA TAX COLLECTOR NAMED JOEL GREENBERG. HE WAS ALREADY INDICTED ON CRIMES THAT INCLUDE FEDERAL SEX TRAFFICKING. HE HAS PLED NOT GUILTY. THE TIMES REPORTS THAT GREENBERG WOULD MEET WOMEN ONLINE AND INTRODUCE THEM TO GAETZ WHO WOULD THEN, QUOTE, HAVE SEX TO THEM. ACCORDING TO PEOPLE CLOSE TO THE INVESTIGATION, SOME OF THE MEN AND WOMEN TOOK ECSTASY BEFORE HAVING SEX, INCLUDING, THE TIMES REPORTS, MR. GAETZ. THE TIMES REVIEWED PAYMENTS, EVIDENCE, MONEY THAT WENT TO WOMEN MADE WITH ONLINE APPS REPORTEDLY SHOWING A PAYMENT TO A WOMAN FROM GAETZ. WE WANT TO MENTION WE’RE QUOTING THE TIMES REPORT. WE HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY REVIEW THOSE DOCUMENTS. HE SAYS HE NEVER PAID FOR SEX AND REFUTES ALL THE ALLEGATIONS COMPLETELY. WE WANT TO BRING YOU THAT SIDE OF THE STORY. THAT’S HIS POSITION NOW. THIS COMES, THOUGH, DAYS AFTER THEY DID CONFIRM THERE IS A DOJ INVESTIGATION, THAT IT DOES REGARD THESE ISSUES. HE JUST SAID THE UNDERLYING ALLEGATIONS AGAINST HIM WERE FALSE AND HE WAS A SUBJECT, NOT A TARGET. NO CHARGES HAVE BEEN BROUGHT AGAINST GAETZ AT THIS TIME. HE IS KNOWN FOR HIS VERY PUBLIC, VERY RECURRING LOYALTY TO DONALD TRUMP AND HIS COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, MEANWHILE, HAS NOW RESIGNED TODAY CITING, QUOTE, PRINCIPAL. WE ARE JOINED BY DAVE AARONBERG STATE ATTORNEY FOR PALM BEACH COUNTY AND DAVID CORN, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF FOR MOTHER JONES. THERE IS A LOT HERE, AND SOME OF IT IS OBVIOUSLY SCANDAL LOUSE, DAVID, IN ITS CONTOURS IN THE RECEIPTS AND THE ALLEGATIONS. WE ARE ALWAYS CAREFUL TO REPORT THE NUANCE AND THE FACT THAT MR. GAETZ HAS NOT BEEN CHARGED AND HIS DENIALS. WHEN YOU TAKE IT ALTOGETHER HERE, WHAT DO YOU HAVE FOR THIS VERY, VERY VOCAL TRUMP ALLY IN THE REPUBLICAN PARTY, DAVID? >> WELL, I ALWAYS THOUGHT OF >> WELL, I ALWAYS THOUGHT OF MATT GAETZ AS DONALD TRUMP’S MINI-ME. HE WAS A MEMBER OF CONGRESS LOOKING TO TROLL ON BEHALF OF DONALD TRUMP. HE USED TO PUT UP PRESS RELEASES ANY TIME DONALD TRUMP SAID SOMETHING POSITIVE ABOUT HIM. HE THOUGHT THAT WAS BIG NEWS. SO HE WAS REALLY A LEADER OF THE TRUMPIEST OF THE TRUMP MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE. AND, SO, HE HAD A FUTURE IN THIS, MAYBE A FUTURE ON A CONSERVATIVE NETWORK, MAYBE A FUTURE LEADING SOME OF THESE PEOPLE IN CONGRESS MORE SO. BUT IT IS QUITE INTERESTING THAT THE INVESTIGATION WAS BEGUN BY THE TRUMP JUSTICE DEPARTMENT WHEN TRUMP ATTORNEY GENERAL BILL BARR WAS IN GEORGE, WHEN BILL BARR HAS INSTITUTED OR TOLD GUIDANCES TO THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT TO BE VERY CAREFUL WHEN IT COMES TO LOOKING AT ELECTED OFFICIALS. SO THAT, YOU KNOW, AGAIN YOU WANT TO BE CAREFUL AND WE SHOULD BE CAREFUL. BUT THAT SEEMS TO ME THAT BAR INSTITUTED, NO PUN HERE, A HIGH BAR FOR THESE TYPE OF INQUIRIES FOR AN ELECTED MEMBER OF CONGRESS. THE FACT THAT THIS HAPPENED UNDER THE TRUMP REGIME SHOWS YOU OR INDICATES THAT THERE IS SOME SERIOUS STUFF HERE. AND IT WILL PROBABLY TAKE A LITTLE WHILE FOR US TO FIND ALL THE DETAILS AND TO SEE WHETHER OR NOT IT’S ENOUGH FOR HIM TO BE INDICTED. >> YEAH. AND YOU MAKE A FAIR NUANCED POINT THERE. YOU ARE LOW KEY INSULTING BILL BARR’S INTEGRITY. ALTHOUGH, YOU WOULDN’T BE THE FIRST. HE HAD MORE VETERANS OF THE DEPARTMENT CALL FOR HIS RESIGNATION THAN ANY OTHER AG IN HISTORY. BUT YOU ARE MAKING THE POINT THAT IF HE WAS GOING TO USE THAT, AS YOU PUT IT, HIGHER BAR, THIS STILL CLEARLY CLEARED THAT. AS FOR HOW GAETZ MADE HIMSELF A BIG FIGURE IN RIGHT WING CIRCLES, LET’S TAKE A LOOK AT SOME OF HIS COMMENTARY. >> MATT GAETZ SEEN HERE WEARING A GAS MASK AS THE HOUSE PASSED A MULTIBILLION FUNDING BILL TO FIGHT THE CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK. >> WHAT WE SEE FROM THIS MARXIST MOVEMENT IN BLACK LIVES MATTER TO TOTALLY OVERTURN OUR COUNTRY. >> THE LEFT IN AMERICA AS INCITED FARMAR POLITICAL VIOLENCE THAN THE RIGHT. >> WHAT WE SEE IN THIS IMPEACHMENT IS A KANGAROO COURT AND CHAIRMAN STIFF IS ACTING LIKE A MALICIOUS KANGAROO. >> THERE WAS BALLOT LAUNDERING GOING ON HERE. >> THAT’S HOW HE TALKED, DAVE. BUT AS A LAWYER, YOU’RE NOT HERE TO ANALYZE WHETHER HE SOUNDS RIDICULOUS OR NOT OR THIRSTY OR ANYTHING OF THE LIKE. BUT OTHER REPUBLICAN COLLEAGUES WHO MAY BECOME WITNESSES WERE CONCERNED ABOUT THE LEGALITY. FOR EXAMPLE, MORE THAN HALF A DOZEN TELLING "THE DAILY BEAST" THAT THEY KNEW OF GAETZ USE OF ALCOHOL AND ILLEGAL DRUGS, THE PROCLIVITY FOR YOUNGER WOMAN. GAETZ WAS DATING A COLLEGE STUDENT OVER THE AGE OF CONSENT IN 2018. A STAFFER SAID WEDNESDAY THEIR OFFICE HAD AN INFORMAL RULE NOT TO LET THEM APPEAR NEXT TO GAETZ IN TV HITS. >> FIRST, I DO THINK HE SOUNDED THIRSTY. AS FAR AS FROM A LEGAL STANDPOINT, HE’S GOT A LOT OF PROBLEMS BECAUSE CHILD SEX TRAFFICKING IS PUNISHMENT BY UP TO LIFE IN PRISON. AND I KNOW THAT THERE ARE A LOT OF THINGS THAT ARE SALACIOUS THAT ARE MAKING THE NEWS SUCH AS THE DRUGS AND THE FACT THAT HE APPARENTLY SHOWED PICTURES OF NUDE WOMEN ON THE FLOOR OF THE HOUSE. BUT AS LONG AS THEY WERE NOT UNDERAGE GIRLS, THAT’S JUST SALACIOUS STUFF. THAT WON’T MATTER IN THIS CASE. WHAT MATTERS IS THE CASH APP. IF PROSECUTORS CAN SHOW A TIE BETWEEN COMPENSATION, SOMETHING OF VALUE, AND SEX ACTS, THEN YOU HAVE GOT HIM. THE CHALLENGE WAS THAT HE ADMITTED TO HOTEL ROOMS AND FLIGHTS AND EXPENSES. BUT CASH IS KING. AND IF YOU COULD SHOW A PATTERN OF THESE CASH TRANSACTIONS AROUND THE SAME TIME THAT HE HAD THESE HOTEL ROOM ENCOUNTERS WITH THIS GIRL, THEN YOU REALLY GOT HIM BECAUSE THE ONLY WAY YOU ARE GOING TO PROVE THE SEX ACTS IS EITHER THROUGH DOCUMENTATION LIKE THAT, THROUGH THE GIRLS’ TESTIMONY OR THROUGH JOEL GREENBERG, IF HE FLIPS. AND THE GOOD THING FOR JOEL GREENBERG NOW IS HE’S LOOKING AT A BIGGER FISH THAN HE IS BEING INVESTIGATED. FOR MATT GAETZ, HE’S LOOKING AROUND AND THERE IS NO BIGGER FISH, WHICH MEANS IT’S TIME. >> DAVE, WHAT DO YOU SEE IN THE INVESTIGATION LIKE THIS? WHAT IS LEFT FOR THEM TO DO? BECAUSE THE TIMES APPEARS TO HAVE HIS HANDS ON REAL EVIDENCE. >> YOU KNOW, ARI, I WAS WONDERING WHY IT TOOK SIX MONTHS TO DEVELOP THIS INVESTIGATION. BUT I THINK IT’S BECAUSE CHILD SEX TRAFFICKING IS NOT AS EASY AS JUST FINDING THE DATE OF BIRTH OF A GIRL IN QUESTION. I THINK NOW WE KNOW WE’RE DEALING WITH AN UNDERAGE GIRL BECAUSE IT IS THE SAME GIRL THAT’S THE VICTIM IN THE CHARGES AGAINST JOEL GREENBERG, THE FORMER SEMINAL COUNTY TAX COLLECTOR. DID HE HAVE SEX WITH THIS GIRL? IF HE DID IT IS PUNISHABLE BY UP TO 15 YEARS IN STATE PRISON. AT WORST FOR HIM, IT IS CHILD SEX TRAFFICKING AND YOU CAN GET UP TO LIFE. HE CAN ENGAGE IN THE CONSPIRACY. JOEL GREENBERG ISN’T JUST BEING CHARGED WITH CHILD SEX TRAFFICKING. IT’S IDENTITY THEFT AND WIRE FRAUD AND A HOST OF OTHER THINGS. MATT COULD BE CHARGED IF HE WAS PART OF A CONSPIRACY WITH JOEL GREENBERG AND THERE IS EVIDENCE THAT HE WAS. THERE IS EVIDENCE THAT HE WAS CAUGHT ON VIDEO INSIDE THE TAX COLLECTOR’S OFFICE RUMMAGING AROUND THROUGH IDs AS PART OF AN ID THEFT RING. THINGS ARE LOOKING REALLY BADLY FOR HIM. >> YEAH. IN CONCLUSION, SINCE YOU MENTIONED THAT, WE’LL PUT UP BRIEFLY ON THE SCREEN THE"THE DA BEAST" REPORTING ON THAT, WHICH INCLUDE THIS PURSUIT OF ALLEGEDLY FAKE IDs. SO AS YOU MENTIONED FOR VIEWERS, WE WANT TO GIVE THE EVIDENCE. THERE IS A LOT HERE. OUR STANDARDS AND RULES REQUIRE US TO MENTION THAT MR. GAETZ DENIED ALL WRONGDOING AND HAS NOT BEEN CHARGED WITH A CRIME. BUT I THINK WHAT DAVE, DAVID AND
