Churches sit silent as pedophiles circle the Trump cabinet

Anglican Watch has long strived to avoid politics despite our facially obvious progressive bent. We also welcome and respect all political views, recognizing that the Kingdom of God is not reserved for any one group, and if it were, we’d probably be the last to know. That said, we believe we need to speak out on an ethical issue, which is the proximity of known pedophiles to the incoming Trump cabinet.

To be clear, we reject the notion of a deep state, whacky conspiracy theories, and the idea that a cabal of pedophiles runs the government. Those notions usually have their genesis in The Elders of Zion, an ugly anti-Semitic trope first published by the Tsarist secret police. That publication has no legitimate role in role in faith or public discourse. But we are friends with a great many MAGA supporters, and we respect these people, even when we reject specific beliefs.

However, the Republic will not stand when ethical pluralism ceases to exist. In that regard, we urge all persons of goodwill to examine closely Trump’s selections for incoming cabinet members. We also encourage faith communities of every ilk to reject candidates with known issues involving pedophilia.

In that regard, our concerns focus on two candidates for the Trump cabinet:

Matt Gaetz — Department of Justice

It is well known that the Department of Justice (DOJ) has investigated Matt Gaetz over a variety of allegations, including sex trafficking, sex with an underage woman, and using illegal drugs. The Department of Justice declined to file charges.

To be clear, declining to file charges is not the same as a vindication. Indeed, the DOJ may decline to pursue a case because witnesses do not wish to testify, questions about the impartiality of local courts, or many other reasons. Commonly, these reasons have a scant connection to the underlying allegations but instead involve the question: What realistically can we do?

In that regard, neither Gaetz nor the Trump administration should have any qualms about releasing the House investigative report on the matter. If the allegations are unfounded, the public has a right to know that. If the allegations are credible — and they appear to be — there is zero excuse for a pedophile or user of recreational drugs to head up the DOJ.

Relatedly, it is a serious breach of national security for Trump to try to sidestep the security clearance process. Just as we expect churches to act according to the highest ethical standards, so too do all Americans have the right to expect that political appointees have impeccable backgrounds. Indeed, persons who cannot pass a background check are at elevated risk of comprise by hostile actors, which is the last thing the country needs right now.

We also note that our friend Christa Brown, whom we like and respect, has pointed out that both Gaetz and House Speaker Mike Johnson are Southern Baptists. In other words, the impunity with which the SBC abuses women in church now appears to be carrying over into government, especially in light of Johnson’s efforts to deep-six the investigatory report on Johnson under a variety of implausible excuses.

This lack of accountability is appalling and outrageous, and it’s a story we’ve heard far too often.

Linda McMahon — Department of Education

Linda McMahon is in line to head up the Department of Education. That’s problematic, as she and her husband are the defendants in a multi-party lawsuit filed by five “John Doe” plaintiffs, which alleges that, in their roles as heads of WWE, they ignored allegations of rampant sexual assault of teen boys by a key employee. Thus, while we have no reason to believe that Linda is a pedophile, we are concerned that she may be an enabler of pedophiles.

There are several factors at play in evaluating these claims:

• The case appears to be proceeding on a contingency fee basis. As such, counsel for the plaintiffs undoubtedly knows that they are up against a couple of well-connected billionaires. In other words, the lawsuit was not filed on a whim.
• The WWE employees at issue, the late Melvin Phillips, was briefly fired by the McMahon’s company but reinstated after he agreed to stay away from boys. (The youths in question, known as “ring boys,” all 12-13 at the time of the alleged abuse, were purportedly lured by Phillips with promises of access to leading celebrities.)
• Two other WWE employees are alleged to be part of the pedophile ring connected to the organization: Pat Patterson, and Terry Garvin
• McMahon’s husband, Vince, resigned from WWE following a sex abuse lawsuit in federal district court alleging sexually abusive behavior directed at an adult female employee. In other words, he’s not exactly coming to the table with clean hands or a whole lot of credibility.

Now, Trump is proposing putting Linda McMahon in a position that, by definition, affords access to children and children’s issues.

As with Matt Gaetz, we believe voters and our elected officials should give scrutiny to any candidate who may have ignored or brushed aside allegations of pedophiliac activity in their personal lives or business dealings, and we are deeply concerned that McMahon’s past conduct may be getting minimal scrutiny as she is considered for a cabinet-level position.

Moreover, while churches must not be partisan, we do believe they have an important role to play by insisting on the highest standards of ethical conduct for government officials, regardless of the official’s party affiliation.