Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., declared vindication Wednesday after an indictment came out that connects a man in the intelligence community who was charged in a plot to extort $25 million from Gaetz and his family.
"Stephen M. Alford did knowingly and willfully devise, and intent to devise, a scheme to defraud and for obtaining money and property by means of material false and fraudulent pretenses, representations, and promises, and for the promise of executing such scheme, did cause, and attempt to cause, a wire communication to be transmitted in interstate commerce," the indictment from the United States District Court for the Northern Florida Pensacola Division read.
Gaetz reacted to the news with Newsmax's "Stinchfield" on Wednesday night.
"At least three people were involved in extorting me," Gaetz told host Grant Stinchfield. "One was a former DOJ official. One was a former Department of State contractor, and the third was this con man, Stephen Alford. Stephen Alford has been indicted. But the person who actually in their own hands delivered to my family — the extortion demand — remains totally absent; any indictment or arrest that should be forthcoming to him."
"And the DOJ former official that was going to be the bag man and hold the money, he hasn't been indicted either," Gaetz stated.
Earlier this year, Gaetz had been adamant Alford was conning him. Alford, Gaetz claims, was making allegations of sexual misconduct to extort money.
In March, the Department of Justice announced it would be investigating Gaetz for sexual misconduct, according to Townhall.
"I think it's very important to recognize that there is a deep state out there," Gaetz said. "We saw that with President [Donald] Trump, but President Trump didn't allow those accusations against him, get in his way of moving America forward. And so I'm hopeful that there will be more evidence that comes out as a consequence of this extortion investigation."
Gaetz concluded this "shows the country that these claims about me, they were never true. They were just used to try to bleed my family out of tens of millions of dollars."
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