Two days ago, the FBI arrested Anton "Tony" Lazzaro, 30, an occasional Fox News guest who flaunted his wealthy lifestyle on social media, was indicted on five counts of sex trafficking of a minor, one count of attempting to do so, and three counts of obstruction of justice. The indictment specified he acted with “others”. Now we find out that one of the “others” is Gisela Castro Medina, a 19-year-old university student. Local authorities arrested Medina in Florida on Thursday. They alleged she aided Lazzaro in recruiting and trafficking minors for sex.
Medina is a student at the Catholic University of St. Thomas in St Paul. And she is active in politics. Until news of her arrest was made public, she was the chair of the University of St. Thomas College Republicans. You can't make this stuff up. The right wing’s favorite source for conspiracy theories, QAnon, maintains that the Democrats, under Hillary Clinton’s direction, and with backing from Hollywood’s liberal elites, are running a pedophile sex trafficking ring. But the people who keep getting arrested for that crime are invariably Republicans. It certainly gives credence to the psychological defect of ‘projection’. In which you accuse others of being that which you are.
And the Catholic connection is unfortunately evocative.
The Republicans are running away from Lazzaro and Medina as quickly as they can. Nia Moore the state chair of the Minnesota College Republicans issued a statement saying they are “absolutely disgusted by the actions of Ms. Medina, and have cut all ties with her effective immediately”.
She should have stopped there. But she went on to say, “While Ms. Medina had recently assumed the role of Chair at the University of St. Thomas’ chapter, she was not an active member nor had she begun working in an official capacity on behalf of the Minnesota College Republicans". Nice try. But you still hired her. And nowhere do you say what you might change to prevent recruiting pedophile enablers in the future.
I’ll grant you that it is hard to spot a sex trafficker when making hiring decisions. But decency demands a “mea culpa” not a self-serving non-justifying justification.
But wait, there’s more. Medina was arrested by the Okaloosa Sheriff's Department in Fort Walton Beach. And can you guess in whose congressional district Fort Walton Beach is located? You’re right. It is Matt Gaetz. It has to be a coincidence — doesn’t it?
Let’s not forget Lazzaro. He is a significant strategist and political donor — a total of $150,000 — for the Minnesota GOP. And the party has dropped him like the metaphorical hot potato.
State GOP Chairwoman, Jennifer Carnahan, said in a statement on Friday that "if the allegations against Mr. Anton Lazzaro are true, this is an abhorrent act that we condemn in the highest possible terms." She added, "Sex trafficking is a heinous act that preys on victims of all ages, races, and backgrounds, and warrants severe punishment by our judicial system. A full investigation is necessary to ensure due process is provided to all parties involved."
She said contributions Lazzaro made to the state party would be given to charity.
It’s the least she could do. What she doesn’t mention is that from October 2019 until early January 2020, she and Lazzaro co-hosted the poorly named podcast "#TruthMatters."
Lazzaro’s lawyer, Zachary Newland, added to the fun by confirming his case is weak. He said, "It is always unfortunate when the federal government abuses its power." If you cast aspersions at the federal government, you implicitly admit you don’t have any factual refutation of the charges. Talking about lawyers, Lazzaro claimed that his defense attorney had subcontracted the prominent lawyer Alan “I had my underpants on” Dershowitz. The Dersh denied it. Claiming “It's just not true.”
Lazzaro is reminiscent of Jeffery Epstein. When the FBI searched his apartment in December 2020, they seized a 2010 convertible Ferrari, $371,240 in U.S. bills, assorted cash from 10 other countries, gold bullion currently worth more than $931,000, a similar amount of silver, and 13 phones—including one specifically designed to be quickly wiped of data with a single swipe. It’s not Epstein-size cash — but he’s young and given time …
And then there is his “look at me sitting on a plane” Twitter bio page @GOPtony
Let’s wrap this all up with a quote he gave to the Daily Beast before his arrest. He denied the sex trafficking charge with the remark, “There’s nothing to this case. It’s not some Matt Gaetz or whatever you think this is.” Dear God, even accused pedophiles don’t think they are as bad as Gaetz.
And then there’s this: