This morning, Rep. Matt Gaetz’s former military affairs, Nathan Nelson, held a press conference in the driveway of his Santa Rosa Beach home to say any assertions that he left the congressman’s staff due to knowledge of Gaetz’s alleged illegal activities were “baseless.”
Nelson, a disabled retired Air Force captain, served in the military from June 2016-November 2015 and was on Gaetz’s staff until November 2020 when he left for a job in the private sector.
He said the FBI visited his home last Wednesday and questioned him about his resignation. According to Nelson, the agents said they were there because of the media.
“They told me that members of the media reached out to them, saying that I had previous knowledge of Congressman Gaetz’s involvement in illegal activities,” he said.
He asserted that since the FBI questions where based on media tips that were baseless, “Congressman Gaetz’s are likewise fabricated and merely an attempt to discredit a very vocal conservative.”
Nelson said he shared the FBI’s visit with Gaetz’s staff but had not talked with the congressman for “several months.” Gaetz’s office announced the presser to the media.
“It’s clear that, you know, there are people out there that are making baseless allegations,” he said. “I wanted to make sure that my words were direct from my mouth.”
When asked by reporters, Nelson said that he had never met former Seminole County tax collector Joel Greenberg, who has been sex trafficking a 17-year-old girl among other federal charges and linked to Gaetz.
Another reporter asked Nelson if he had any specific information about that would lead him to discredit the investigation.
“I don’t know have any specific knowledge on the investigation or any of the facts that are involved with that investigation,” said Nelson.
Nelson seemed to know nothing about nothing seemed but was overly eager to let the public know that he believed Gaetz, “Neither I nor any other member of Congressman Gaetz’s staff had any knowledge of illegal activities.” He can speak but himself but not for others and how would he know if “he†had knowledge of illegal activities by Gaetz or anyone else? He might know something useful even if it was just about where Gaetz might have been on a certain day and maybe that might be helpful to the FBI trying to connect the dots. Nelson said that he had known Gaetz since he was in the Florida Legislature. Well, how did he know him? Was it a social or work relationship? Most unbelievably, Nelson claimed that Gaetz knew nothing about the press conference but it was Gaetz’s staff that had sent out the media advisory about the press conference and did it on official letterhead of Gaetz’s office. Duh. Is Nelson trying to say that rogue actors in Gaetz’s office are sending out media advisories without the knowledge of the member? Nelson said that he is a “military advisory†working for Gaetz without pay. Does congress have a category of employees who are unpaid volunteers? Does Nelson have a congressional staff ID card? Does he have a written agreement? Does he have an old or new business card with Gaetz’s name on it identifying him as a military advisor to Gaetz that he can flash at a business meeting when trying to get a defense contract? https://ethics.house.gov/staff-rights-and-duties/volunteers-interns-fellows-and-detailees
That weird press conference was a complete waste of time! He came to his defense armed with absolutely no facts, just more ‘Florida Man’ type theatrics.