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Trump Appointee Matt Gaetz’s Long List of Scandals
Donald Trump ruffled more than a few feathers on Capitol Hill when he announced Wednesday he’d called on Matt Gaetz to be his next Attorney General.
Gaetz, 42, is among the most controversial lawmakers in Congress, having been accused of a number of controversies; including showing photos of naked women on the House floor and an investigation into potential sex trafficking.
Before the Floridian can join Trump’s cabinet as the nation’s top law enforcement official, he’ll have to endure a Senate confirmation hearing that’s sure to see him questioned on his laundry list of scandals.
Lone ‘no’ vote on anti-human trafficking bill
Back in 2017, the freshman congressman Gaetz wasn’t a national name yet. Still, he turned heads across the country after he was the lone “no” vote on an anti-human trafficking bill that easily passed both the House and Senate.
Gaetz explained—from a Facebook Live in his living room—that he voted no because he felt the bill, the Combating Human Trafficking in Commercial Vehicles Act, would represent “mission creep” at the federal level. In layman’s terms, he felt the bill would lead to more government bureaucracy than was needed, though he agreed with the bill’s goal. Gaetz was still slammed for being the lone opposing vote, however, and his “no” vote resurfaced years later during the fallout of his alleged sex trafficking probe.
Bringing right-wing troll to SOTU
Gaetz was again the subject of eye-rolls across the nation in 2018 when he brought the far-right internet troll Chuck Johnson to the State of the Union address. Making the guest choice all-the-more baffling was that some of Gaetz’ colleagues from Florida had opted to bring survivors of a devastating hurricane and the family of a hostage in Iran.
Gaetz, meanwhile, found it appropriate to bring Johnson; a man who’d been banned from Twitter, accused of white nationalism and Holocaust denying, and who was perhaps best known for proliferating fake news stories. Gaetz told the Daily Beast at the time that he gave Johnson a ticket simply because he showed up at his office on the day of the speech. Johnson, meanwhile, said he was a fan of Gaetz because he he has “that f–k you mindset.”
‘Witness intimidation’ of Michael Cohen
Gaetz had turned himself into a national firebrand by 2019, acting as a staunch defender of Donald Trump who frequently appeared on Fox News. It was this year that Gaetz—one day before Michael Cohen was slated to speak before the House Oversight Committee—accused Trump’s former-fixer-turned-foe of being unfaithful to his wife, in what came off as a veiled threat.
Gaetz, tagging Cohen’s account on Twitter, wrote: “Do your wife & father-in-law know about your girlfriends? Maybe tonight would be a good time for that chat. I wonder if she’ll remain faithful when you’re in prison. She’s about to learn a lot…”
The post was deleted after Gaetz was admonished for ever making the post. Gaetz insisted it wasn’t “witness intimidation” but was instead just “witness testing.” The Florida Bar opened a probe into Gaetz but ultimately cleared him.
Nestor, the hidden Cuban ‘son,’ emerges
In the summer of 2020, Gaetz got into a fiery altercation with the former Rep. Cedric Richmond during a congressional hearing on police reform. During a heated back-and-forth, Gaetz exploded at Richmond for suggesting he didn’t know what it was like to fear for a Black son.
Gaetz was unmarried and—as far as the public knew—childless at the time, so many were left scratching their heads after his exchange with Richmond. That same day, however, the Florida congressman took to Twitter to post a photo of who he described was “my son Nestor,” was a 19-year-old from Cuba who’d apparently lived with him for six years. “We share no blood but he is my life,” Gaetz said. He also emphasized in his post that Nestor came to Florida “legally.”
Gaetz and Nestor’s relationship has since been scrutinized, however. Nestor is the son of Gaetz’s ex-girlfriend and spent time living with both Gaetz and his blood family in Florida. Gaetz was also discovered to have described Nestor in social media posts as a “local student” in 2016 and as “my helper” in 2017.
Sex trafficking probe
The New York Times published a bombshell report in 2021 that claimed Gaetz was being investigated by the Department of Justice for sex trafficking. Among the allegations against Gaetz was that he had sex with a 17-year-old girl and paid for her to travel across state lines. “It is verifiably false that I have traveled with a 17-year-old woman,” he told the publication at the time.
In the end, the DOJ announced last year that no charges would be filed against Gaetz and that its probe was complete. However, his pal, the Florida tax collector Joel Greenberg, pleaded guilty to a slew of sex crimes and was sentenced to 11 years in prison. In 2021, the Daily Beast reported on a confession letter that was penned by Greenberg in which he claimed that Gaetz had paid him to arrange sex with several women and a girl who was 17. The Beast also revealed private Venmo logs that showed Gaetz sent money to Greenberg, even using a nickname for the adolescent.
While Gaetz has been absolved legally, the scandal hurt his reputation on the hill and has seemingly led to unsavory stories about the lawmaker. Recently, that included court docs emerging in September that alleged Gaetz was at a party in 2017 with a naked high school junior who was there to “engage in sexual activities” while drugs like cocaine and ecstasy were present.
Naked pics on the House floor
A CNN report alleged in 2021 that Gaetz had proudly showed images and clips of naked women he’d been sleeping with to aides and lawmakers while in the U.S. Capitol and on the House floor. Among the alleged videos shown on Gaetz’ phone was a nude woman with a hula hoop. A source told CNN the seedy clips were a “point of pride” for the congressman.
CNN’s report suggested that the allegedly sordid conduct from Gaetz was part of a trend from the congressman. The network reported that staff who worked for former House Speaker Paul Ryan once had to meet with Gaetz during his first term to lecture him about behaving professionally on the House floor.
Gaetz denied CNN’s report “in the strongest possible terms.” Just before the story broke, Gaetz claimed that he and his family had been “victims of an organized criminal extortion involving a former DOJ official seeking $25 million while threatening to smear my name.”
Can you spare a pardon?
While perhaps his least-controversial scandal, Gaetz was thoroughly grilled in 2022 when testimony from a Trump attorney—emerging as part of a Jan. 6 Committee hearing—revealed that the lawmaker had allegedly asked for a sweeping pardon from Trump during his final days in office.
That attorney, Eri Herschmann, said in a deposition that Gaetz had requested a presidential pardon “from the beginning of time up until today, for any and all things.” Cassidy Hutchinson, an ex-White House adviser, also testified that Gaetz had been seeking a pardon since “early December” in 2020, but she said she was unsure why.
After the deposition clip emerged, Gaetz dismissed the committee as a “political sideshow” while other lawmakers, like the former Republican Representative Adam Kinzinger, remarked that the request was proof Gaetz was up to no good. “The only reason you ask for a pardon is if you think you’ve committed a crime,” Kinzinger said.
House Ethics Committee probe emerges
Likely the most pressing scandal to Gaetz today is a House Ethics Committee probe that was opened last year. The probe, which was initially opened in 2021 but put on ice, is investigating Gaetz for sexual misconduct, illicit drug use, misuse of state identification records, and bribery.
Gaetz denied wrongdoing when the probe was announced in 2023 and said it was “not something I’m worried about.” He also suggested he was being targeted over his politics, saying, “It’s also funny that the one guy who doesn’t take the corrupt lobbyist and PAC money seems to be under the most Ethics investigations.”
The probe remained open as of Wednesday however by Wednesday evening, House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters Gaetz will resign from Congress “effective immediately” following his nomination to serve as attorney general by President-elect Trump, effectively killing it.
When news broke of Gaetz’ appointment, ABC News reported that there was an “audible gasp” in a room of House Republicans who were meeting behind closed doors.
Three San Francisco couples set out Monday for their annual road trip to Ashland, Ore., for the town’s famous Shakespeare festival. They drove separately and planned to meet at 6:30 p.m. on the terrace of their favorite Japanese restaurant there.
They had booked a table for six, but only four showed up for dinner.
Judith and Wylie Sheldon were found dead in their running car on the side of the road to Oregon, shocking their friends and family and leaving a hole in San Francisco’s arts and film world.
Ms. Sheldon, 84, was the daughter of William Wyler — who won three Oscars for best director — and chaired the board of the San Francisco Silent Film Festival. Mr. Sheldon, 86, was a prominent lawyer.
David Smith, who had befriended the couple more than 40 years ago, said in an interview that he and the others at the dinner table had grown nervous as time ticked on and their friends did not answer repeated calls to their cellphones. They learned they had not checked into their hotel either.
The friends eventually learned from one of the couple’s sons that the California Highway Patrol had found the couple at 5:46 p.m., both dead inside their running Jeep Compass. It was parked on the side of Interstate 5, north of Redding, Calif., more than 100 miles from their destination, the authorities said. Ms. Sheldon was driving, while Mr. Sheldon was in the passenger seat, according to the authorities.
The Redding area on Monday was under an extreme heat warning issued by the National Weather Service. Temperatures reached 109 degrees, according to the Weather Service.
Mr. Smith said he learned from the son that the couple had been found without any water or other liquids in the car. The fan was on high, but the air conditioning was not working, meaning they might have been blasted with hot air, Mr. Smith said. The windows were rolled down. The car had plenty of gas, and there were no signs of mechanical failure or foul play, Mr. Smith said the son told him.
“They didn’t crash. They stopped. They both just died there,” Mr. Smith said. “The entire thing is so bizarre. We’re still in a state of shock.”
The circumstances and cause of the couple’s death is under investigation but “appears to be medically related,” the Highway Patrol said in a statement.
Whether the heat contributed to the couple’s death “may be determined” by an autopsy, a spokesman for the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office said, adding that one had not been scheduled yet and could take several weeks to complete.
“We’ll just have to see,” the spokesman, Tim Mapes, said.
The Sheldons met at Stanford University and had two sons. They lived in a large home in San Francisco’s upscale Pacific Heights neighborhood that had views of the bay from the front and a garden out back.
They hosted many parties there on behalf of the San Francisco Silent Film Festival and sometimes let revelers pose for photos with Mr. Wyler’s Oscar statuettes. Ms. Sheldon fell in love with silent movies after first seeing those created by her father — before his better known blockbusters like “Ben-Hur” and “Roman Holiday” — only about 30 years ago, said Anita Monga, artistic director of the festival.
Stacey Wisnia, the festival’s executive director, said the couple was generous, delightful and unassuming.
Back in Ashland, Ore., Mr. Smith said the four remaining friends had distracted themselves from their grief by attending plays, including “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and “Come From Away.” They were able to give away their friends’ tickets.
Ms. Monga had last seen Ms. Sheldon just last month at the film festival, which was held at the newly remade Castro Theater.
“This is such a shock,” Ms. Monga said of the deaths. “Also because it’s still a mystery.”
Luigi Mangione appears for a pretrial hearing at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York, June 17, 2026.
Angelina Katsanis/AP
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Angelina Katsanis/AP
New York — In a dramatic reversal, Luigi Mangione’s legal team on Thursday backed away from a plan to use a psychiatric defense when his case goes to trial in state court in September. Mangione has pleaded not guilty to murdering health insurance CEO Brian Thompson in 2024 on a Manhattan street.
At a hearing only a day earlier before state Judge Gregory Carro, Mangione’s attorneys confirmed that Mangione had been undergoing psychiatric evaluation. They signaled that his defense would be based at least in part on the argument that Mangione was experiencing “extreme emotional disturbance.”
But in a one-line letter sent to Carro on Thursday, Mangione’s team said that “at this time” they no longer intend to introduce psychiatric evidence during the trial. It’s unclear what sparked the shift. Mangione’s team didn’t respond to NPR’s request for comment.
Former Manhattan prosecutor and legal analyst Gary Galperin told NPR it was a “stunning reversal” for Mangione to withdraw from the psychiatric defense. “One can only speculate at this point as to the reasons,” he said.
“What remains, of course, at this point is the question of what defense they will pursue at trial,” he added.
This maneuver came after Carro ordered Mangione’s attorneys to quickly share psychiatric information with prosecutors.
“They need to know what the malady is that this defendant suffers and how that triggered extreme emotional distress,” he said, during Wednesday’s hearing. “I’m not going to let you surprise people on the eve of trial. Get it done.”
Assistant Manhattan District Attorney Joel Seidemann repeatedly complained that Mangione’s team was “stonewalling” the prosecution by withholding medical information about his psychiatric state. “We have gotten nothing,” Seidemann said.
Mangione’s lead attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo denied her team was delaying the court process or improperly withholding information.
But legal analyst Richard Schoenstein says by withdrawing the psychiatric defense, Mangione’s team “is avoiding the court deadline to produce its psychiatric evidence.”
According to Schoenstein, this latest move “does not entirely foreclose” Mangione’s team from returning to some form of psychiatric argument during the trial, but he added that such a defense would now be far more difficult.
Mangione’s case has drawn worldwide attention. Legal experts say the 28-eight-year old has drawn an unusual level of public support because of his criticism of the health insurance industry. Thompson, a father of two, was CEO of UnitedHealthcare at the time of his murder.
During Wednesday’s hearing, Carro also indicated that a tranche of court documents would be made public that apparently relate to Mangione’s potential psychiatric defense. On Thursday, Carro reversed course.
In a signed order, he said that because Mangione will no longer present psychiatric evidence, “the court’s previous order sealing certain transcripts, emails, and documents, remains in effect.”
Mangione’s state trial is scheduled to begin in early September, with a federal trial expected to take place later.
The museums, designed by conservative nonprofits and Trump appointees, tell the story of early America, from colonization to revolution. The one exhibition looking beyond the early years is the “Wall of American Heroes.” It is a list of 51 people, chosen to illustrate 250 years of American history.
A White House spokesman said they were “individuals who shaped this nation’s history, culture and spirit across generations.”
The people pictured on this national honor roll — and the people left out — help illustrate what this administration sees as the highlights of American history.
Amid the administration’s efforts to reshape the nation’s relationship with its past, Trump appointees heavily weighted the list toward a single era of American history — and a few specific kinds of hero.
The other exhibitions in the Freedom Trucks were crafted by a pair of conservative nonprofits, PragerU and Hillsdale College. But the “Wall of American Heroes” was created by Freedom 250, a nonprofit effort whose leaders were chosen by President Trump and that was created to lead the planning of celebrations of the nation’s 250th birthday, overshadowing a bipartisan congressional commission.
A spokeswoman for Freedom 250 said Mr. Trump was not directly involved in the selection of those featured.
But the list clearly tracks Mr. Trump’s own lifetime and the heroes of the conservative political movement.
The wall’s tilt toward heroes of the baby boomer generation, for instance, extends beyond Hollywood stars and musicians. Of the four religious leaders on the list, two — Archbishop Fulton Sheen and the Rev. Billy Graham — also appeared on TV regularly in the 1950s and 1960s. The only painter on the list is Norman Rockwell, known for his idealized depictions of American life in that period.
By contrast, there is only a handful of figures from the first decades of American independence.
“That’s a disservice, if your intention is to present the last 250 years,” said Sarah Weicksel, the executive director of the American Historical Association. “Because all of the people on this list are building on the work and struggles and progress that was made by the people in the 150 years prior.”
The “Wall of American Heroes” was inspired by a similar display in a traveling museum created by the State of Virginia. But Virginia’s display celebrates little-known historical figures.
Mr. Trump’s, by and large, celebrates people who are already well-known — and, often, people who were famous in their own time. For example, it praises P.T. Barnum, a circus impresario who used hoaxes and freak shows to draw crowds. The wall calls him an “icon of American sensationalism.”
The spokeswoman for Freedom 250 said that many of the names on the wall were drawn from a list of 250 people that Mr. Trump wants to include in a “Garden of American Heroes” in Washington.
The spokeswoman declined to say what criteria were used to narrow down the list.
The only president whose name appears on the wall — not on the list of heroes, but alongside his quotation — is Mr. Trump himself.
Explore the Wall of Heroes
Navigate the display by dragging from side to side.
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