The View co-host Sunny Hostin grimaced on air as she was forced to read a live legal disclaimer after ripping into Matt Gaetz during a rant about ‘child sex crimes’ and ‘child trafficking’ on the daytime show.
Donald Trump’s pick for the top law enforcement role in the U.S. allegedly partied, used drugs and paid women for sex repeatedly between 2017 and 2019 while serving in the House of Representatives.
Gaetz, the most controversial of Trump’s slew of high-profile cabinet and West Wing picks, has also been accused of having sex with an underage high school girl, which he has denied.
‘Within the Department of Justice, you know, you have the sex crimes unit, which is what I was a part of,’ Hostin said, highlighting her work for the DOJ in the 2000s.
‘Child sex crimes and child trafficking. How could you nominate someone with allegations of child trafficking or trafficking across state lines and having sex with a 17-year-old?’ she asked viewers and the panel.
However, within four minutes, co-host Whoopi Goldberg addressed Hostin and said: ‘Sunny, you have a legal note.’
The liberal former federal prosecutor was stone-faced as she was given the prepared statement clarifying that the attorney general nominee denies what he calls a ‘false smear.’
‘I do, Whoopi, thank you,’ Hostin replied, before coldly reading off the legal memo.
‘Matt Gaetz has long denied all allegations, calling the claims, quote, “invented,” and saying in a statement to ABC News that “this false smear following a three-year criminal investigation should be viewed with great skepticism.” The DOJ investigation was closed with no charges being brought.’
Goldberg then quickly sent the show to a commercial break without any further discussion on the matter.
Florida congressman Gaetz resigned from his seat just days before the House was set to vote on whether to release a potentially damning ethics report on the allegations against him.
Hostin’s tense on-air reading of the legal note drew a lot of attention on social media.
Journalist Collin Rugg claimed that Hostin fumed while reading the note because she’d presented the allegations as ‘fact’ – despite her labeling the charges againts Gaetz as ‘allegations.’
‘Look at her face, she did not want to make that statement,’ said another social media user.
‘Look at Sunny Hostin’s face. This looks like a hostage video,’ added the infamous ‘End Wokeness’ account.
Another wrote: ‘Literally what it looks like when you eat crow. Like it hurts her to tell the truth.’
Gaetz allegedly took two women to see the musical version of Pretty Woman on Broadway after paying them to fly to New York City for sex and drug-filled romps.
Joel Leppard, a Florida-based attorney for the two women also says they met up with Gaetz at least once to watch him appear on Fox News’ Outnumbered in New York in January 2019.
This was one of 10 to 15 alleged occasions when the women were flown out to meet Gaetz, sometimes in New York or even the Bahamas.
Leppard says his clients were between the ages of 19 and 21 at the time, though they believed they saw another woman who was 17 with Gaetz. They said they were told to have sex with several gentlemen after they’d been hired.
‘They did testify to the House that that was their understanding of the payments, that that’s why they were there, to provide a good time, to have fun, be free and to have sex with the gentlemen who were present, including Rep. Gaetz,’ Leppard said.
Each told the House Ethics Committee they’d had sex with Gaetz and were paid for sexual favors, he added.
The Republican attended up to 10 ‘sex parties’ where illegal drugs and ‘group sex situations’ were present, according to Leppard.
Both women represented by Leppard allege that Gaetz paid them for sex via Venmo, the attorney claims.
‘She testified [that] in July of 2017, at this house party, she was walking out to the pool area, and she looked to her right, and she saw Rep. Gaetz having sex with her friend, who was 17,’ Leppard said Monday.
One of the witnesses alleges that she saw her friends having sex with Gaetz at a party in July 2017 against a game table thought to be an air hockey table.
The unnamed witness also says that her friend was 17-years-old at the time.
When asked about the allegations against Gaetz, Trump transition spokesperson Alex Pfieffer told DailyMail.com: ‘Matt Gaetz will be the next Attorney General. He’s the right man for the job and will end the weaponization of our justice system.’
‘These are baseless allegations intended to derail the second Trump administration,’ he added. ‘The Biden Justice Department investigated Gaetz for years and cleared him of wrongdoing.’
The bombshell allegations have been central to a House Ethics Committee investigation into the ex-lawmaker that was abruptly paused last week following Gaetz’s resignation after he was put up to be the nation’s ‘top cop.’
Gaetz was sworn-in as a member of the House of Representatives in January 2017, so all of the allegations against him come during his tenure as a federal employee.
He claimed he has done nothing wrong and that the allegations against him amount to a ‘false smear.’
Gaetz also said he had never engaged in sexual activity with anyone under the age of 18 in a letter posted to his social media in September.
‘The answer to this question is unequivocally NO,’ he wrote. ‘The lawful, consensual sexual activities of adults are not the business of Congress.’
Gaetz has also said that the Ethics Committee’s actions seem to be unfairly targeting him, and he announced he would no longer comply with their investigation.
‘The answer to this question is unequivocally NO,’ he wrote. ‘The lawful, consensual sexual activities of adults are not the business of Congress.’
‘This question about my sexual history reveals a sinister motive of the Committee to harm me and those who have had any association with me,’ he said at the time.
In June, the House Ethics Committee released a statement indicating its investigation was focused on whether Gaetz ‘engaged in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, accepted improper gifts, dispensed special privileges and favors to individuals with whom he had a personal relationship, and sought to obstruct government investigations of his conduct.’
But Leppard claimed otherwise on Monday, saying that the women he represents, who were also involved in the committee investigation, have Venmo transactions ‘for sex’ that can prove the former lawmaker is not being truthful.
Leppard also revealed that Gaetz texted these women about whether ‘party favors’ and ‘vitamins’ would be available at the parties, which the pair understood to be references to illegal drugs.