Actual Mug Shot of Trump Legal professional Normal Nominee Matt Gaetz Is Trailed by False Rumors

Declare:

A picture authentically reveals an arrest mug shot of Matt Gaetz.

Score:

Following U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s Nov. 13, 2024, announcement that he would nominate Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz to his cupboard as lawyer normal, years-old claims associated to this potential prime legislation officer’s alleged felony file reemerged on social media platforms. Many social media posts, together with the X post under, integrated what gave the impression to be a mug shot of Matt Gaetz.

As Snopes has previously written, that is an genuine police photograph of Matt Gaetz taken after an arrest on suspicion of driving below the affect (DUI) in October 2008. In a 2019 article, Snopes decided that picture was actual, as has been acknowledged by the congressman himself. It was reported on in depth by the Tampa Bay Instances in 2014:

It was the evening earlier than Halloween in 2008 when Gaetz, then 26, drove again from the Swamp, a nightclub on Okaloosa Island. He drove a 2001 BMW SUV registered to his state senator dad.

Close to midnight, Okaloosa County Deputy Chris Anglin clocked Gaetz going 48 in a 35 mph zone. Anglin later reported that Gaetz fumbled for his license and registration, his eyes have been watery and bloodshot, and he swayed and staggered when he received out of the automotive.

Smelling alcohol, Anglin requested Gaetz if he had been consuming. Gaetz replied no. Minutes later, he admitted he had consumed two beers. Twice, Anglin performed a watch take a look at. Twice, Gaetz’s eyes did not comply with the immediate. Gaetz, who had not too long ago begun practising legislation, declined any subject sobriety exams. He was arrested and refused the breath take a look at.

A controversy ensued when expenses towards Gaetz, whose father was a member of the Florida State Senate on the time, have been dropped and his license was reinstated. This occurred regardless of a Florida legislation requiring a year-long suspension for refusing to take a breathalyzer take a look at.

According to the Tampa Bay Instances, “A subject officer for the Division of Freeway Security and Motor Autos declared there was no proof that Gaetz refused a breath take a look at. But the refusal was clearly documented in [the arresting officer’s] affidavit and arrest report.”

The arresting officer, Okaloosa County Deputy Chris Anglin, resigned a month after the Gaetz arrest below strain from his superiors, who cited disciplinary points. The query of whether or not Gaetz’s father’s political connections performed an improper position in these outcomes, Snopes wrote in 2019, has dogged Gaetz for years. Gaetz, for his half, has dismissed such allegations as “tabloid journalism.”

A number of false claims, together with that there exist as much as seven DUI arrests on Gaetz’s file and that his roommate allegedly died below suspicious circumstances, have lengthy been related to this photograph. Whereas these claims are false, the authenticity of the mug shot shouldn’t be in query. For that cause, this declare is true. 

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