(ProsperNews.net) – The Federal Election Commission (FEC) has thrown out a complaint against Florida GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz. A political rival filed an accusation against him, saying he had improperly used campaign funds to pay for legal representation during a criminal investigation. Cris Dosev, a Republican who ran against Gaetz in the primary contest for Florida’s northwest congressional seat, filed the complaint, but the FEC voted 5 – 0 in favor of its dismissal.
“Cris Dosev has lost every FEC complaint he has filed as a gadfly — and every election he has run in as a candidate, including two to me,” Gaetz said.
The story dates back to 2020 when the Department of Justice (DOJ) opened an investigation into allegations that Congressman Gaetz had used the services of prostitutes, including minors. The Representative vehemently denied the accusations, but when a friend pleaded guilty to offenses including trafficking, the probe into Gaetz expanded.
Following more than a year of investigation, the DOJ announced in February 2023 that it would not charge the Congressman with any crime. His friend Joel Greenberg, however, received an 11-year jail sentence.
The subsequent complaint to the FEC alleged that Gaetz’s political fund, Friends of Matt Gaetz, paid $200,000 for his criminal defense. However, an attorney in New York testified that “any payments my office received from Friends of Matt Gaetz were for legal services performed for and on behalf of Friends itself, not Rep. Gaetz personally.”
Upon receiving the news that the FEC had thrown out the case, Cris Dosev said the regulators did not actually respond to his specific complaint and said a two-tier justice system in the United States treats the powerful favorably.
An active Republican who regularly stands for election, Mr. Dosev made headlines in 2020 for accusing his opponent of trying to kill his dog with a sausage filled with toothpicks. Video footage of a confrontation with opponent Alex Andrade went viral online.
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