Thread by @Jose_Pagliery

Some folks are surprised at the level of detail in our exposés on Matt Gaetz & crew.

I'll use the latest story @SollenbergerRC & I did together as an example.

Time for a thread!

thedailybeast.com/the-shock-jock…

We first heard about "Big Joe" in late March, when @ktbenner broke the story on the DOJ investigating Gaetz.

We immediately started reaching out. Surely, Gaetz's wingman's bestie knows something right?

Multiple sources confirmed that yes, "Big Joe" tagged along with Gaetz's buddy for years. They cohosted a radio show, partied together, and even worked together.

We've spoken to maybe a dozen people who knew them personally.

But how far did this go?

Since-deleted social media posts showed how close they were, but we needed more detail.

Through extensive work, we obtained their private Signal messages. That's how we got this.

Several tax agency employees kept telling us that Joel Greenberg gave his former radio co-host "Big Joe" a cushy govt job -- that he then used to swindle taxpayers.

So, we asked for public records. Lots of them.

Luckily, this is in Florida, which gives the public great access!

We got financial audit record that showed how he abused taxpayer/funded credit cards.

We got internal agency docs that claimed "Big Joe" used his govt AMEX to buy a bunch of knives for his gun shop.

Hey look, here's a pic of his store counter on Google Maps!

We heard "Big Joe" used his govt-issue Chevy Silverado for personal trips on weekends to his store.

Was it his? We got a copy of the title with the VIN. We got sales records with the license plate.

Was it at his store? We got a picture with an embedded date & GPS coordinates.

We heard he drove much more than allowed between nearby offices. How can we prove that?

We got a carbon copy of the title that showed how many miles it had at the start in Sept 2017.

When "Big Joe" was done with it and he was let go, the truck was sold. We asked the county to give us the odometer reading at sale.

Man, that's a lot of driving for less than three years.

Taxpayers shelled out $40k because "Big Joe" allegedly sexually harassed his coworker. We got the settlement agreement & other docs.

Now this part kills me. When the young woman reported it, management cornered her & said it was her fault. We have multiple witnesses in the room.

Folks, if you're gonna break laws and abuse power or privilege, we're going to expose you.

And for everyone else: If you know something, say something... to a journalist.

DM. Text. Call. Send me tips & I'll do the rest.