'It's oblivion': Writer says Gaetz facing a 'blunt reality' of his own 'irrelevance'

Former Rep. Matt Gaetz is professionally circling the drain as a result of the House Ethics Committee report into his activities, which was finally made public Monday after weeks of Republicans wrangling over the matter, reported Elaine Godfrey for The Atlantic. The ethics report detailed "substantial evidence" that Gaetz, a longtime ally of President-elect Donald Trump who was briefly nominated for attorney general before withdrawing, “violated House Rules, state and federal laws, and other standards of conduct prohibiting prostitution, statutory rape, illicit drug use, acceptance of impermissible gifts, the provision of special favors and privileges, and obstruction of Congress.” Gaetz, who has consistently denied all allegations and filed a last-minute restraining order to try to block the release of the report — even as it was being leaked — resigned from Congress during the AG nomination, and now appears set to host a show on the far-right One America News Network — a spectacular downgrade of fortunes in just a month, Godfrey wrote. "As one former Republican lawmaker from Florida who’d collaborated with Gaetz in the House described his former colleague’s future: 'It’s oblivion,'" wrote Godfrey. In a final bit of irony, Godfrey noted, "Some observers I spoke with expect Gaetz to relocate to San Diego, where OANN is based, which is nearly 3,000 miles from the Trump White House — far enough that it might as well be Mars."