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dalton99a

(81,065 posts)
Mon Apr 12, 2021, 10:34 AM Apr 2021

'Like the Tiger King Got Elected Tax Collector': Inside the Case That Ensnared Matt Gaetz

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/11/us/politics/joel-greenberg-matt-gaetz.html

‘Like the Tiger King Got Elected Tax Collector’: Inside the Case That Ensnared Matt Gaetz
Joel Greenberg, a onetime local official in Florida, is accused of an array of crimes, including bribery, stalking and corruption.
By Patricia Mazzei, Michael S. Schmidt and Katie Benner
Published April 11, 2021 Updated April 12, 2021, 6:29 a.m. ET

LAKE MARY, Fla. — Long before the F.B.I. began to scrutinize a tax collector in Florida named Joel Greenberg — and long before his trail led them to Representative Matt Gaetz — he amassed an outlandish record in the mundane local public office he had turned into a personal fief of power.

Records and interviews detailed a litany of accusations: Mr. Greenberg strutted into work with a pistol on his hip in a state that does not allow guns to be openly carried. He spent hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars to create no-show jobs for a relative and some of his groomsmen. He tried to talk his way out of a traffic ticket, asking a police officer for “professional courtesy.” He played police officer himself, putting a flashing light on his car to pull over a woman and accuse her of speeding. He published an anti-Muslim Facebook post. He solicited help to hack critics on the county commission.

Stalking a rival candidate got him arrested. Federal agents looking into the matter found at least five fake IDs in his wallet and backpack, and kept digging.

Their inquiry culminated in 33 federal charges against Mr. Greenberg, 36, including sex trafficking of a minor, bribery, fraud and stalking — and led to a mushrooming political scandal that burst into national news in recent days and ensnared Mr. Gaetz, who is a close ally of President Donald J. Trump, and other influential Florida Republicans, with the investigation continuing.

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'Like the Tiger King Got Elected Tax Collector': Inside the Case That Ensnared Matt Gaetz (Original Post) dalton99a Apr 2021 OP
who the hell knows who their 'tax collecter' is?..sounds like something out of.. samnsara Apr 2021 #1
Greenberg was out of control. Cracklin Charlie Apr 2021 #2
Whew IbogaProject Apr 2021 #3
Floriduh Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin Apr 2021 #4
Wow. If you can get to the article, it's a doozy. crickets Apr 2021 #5

crickets

(25,896 posts)
5. Wow. If you can get to the article, it's a doozy.
Mon Apr 12, 2021, 04:15 PM
Apr 2021

More background details flesh out the story of a 'special' boy and 'troubled' teen/tween who became a bored, unfocused middle-aged man yearning for power. Sound familiar?

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