The
reported Tuesday that federal investigators are examining whether Gaetz had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl, an allegation that the Panhandle Republican has vehemently denied, saying that his family was part of an alleged extortion plot organized by a former federal prosecutor (Gaetz' father, former Florida Senate President Don Gaetz agrees, telling POLITICO that he has been working with the FBI to prove the extortion claims).
University of Central Florida political science professor Aubrey Jewett says that previous to these allegations, Gaetz provocative behavior on cable and in social media has helped make him a conservative rock star, and by far the best-known member of Florida’s congressional House delegation.