It has been years since the allegations that now-former Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz had “paid for sex,” or “had sex with a minor,” or “had drug-fueled orgies with sex-trafficked women.” The allegations became enragingly outlandish for a man who, as a self-proclaimed libertarian in his youth, had straightened up in Congress, married the love of his life, and was intent on focusing on his firebrand populism to deliver for his constituents.

It is no coincidence that the knives were out for one of the few Members of the House of Representatives who does not take campaign donations from moneyed, corporate interests, nor Political Action Committees (PACs). In taking this conscientious stand, Gaetz found himself in the crosshairs of the irate establishment from his very first day on Capitol Hill.

Since then, his star has only risen with the Make America Great Again (MAGA) base and, indeed, with President Trump himself. It seemed for a while that his career in politics may well have culminated with his heroic ouster of Speaker Kevin McCarthy, especially given McCarthy’s predictable “I’m going to ruin you” response.

But despite having had the kitchen sink thrown at him in terms of lurid allegations, internecine primary challenges, and more, Gaetz is not just still standing but is running, not walking, toward the fire.

This presents a rare opportunity for America’s media—one they are unlikely to seize.

Trust in media is at record lows. Take your pick of the multitude of reasons why: the COVID origins story; all the anti-Trump hoaxes including but not limited to the Russia collusion hoax and the ‘fine people’ hoax; the way they report on abortions/miscarriages/IVF; their insistence that the Biden-Harris economy was “doing great” despite all evidence to the contrary. The list is endless.

But the media doesn’t have to fall for nor peddle the Gaetz hoax again. It could and should instead do its job: ask the hard questions of both sides and report the facts as they emerge, not as they want them to emerge.

Matt Gaetz has never had a chance to face any actual accuser. Mostly because the Biden-Garland Department of Justice (DOJ) investigated him for years and came up with absolutely nothing. But in the days preceding his appointment to the role of Attorney General, Gaetz will surely face Senate “witnesses” who will peddle whatever they’re asked.

The phony case against Gaetz rests squarely at the feet of convicted sex trafficker, fraudster, stalker, and identity thief Joel Greenberg. As a result of Greenberg’s arrest and charge, he agreed to provide information to the Biden government about Gaetz. So far, all of Greenberg’s claims have led to dead ends.

So, will the press bother to ask those tough questions of Greenberg and the girls he tries to implicate in the story? Will they challenge the claims of the latest Avenatti-style Democrat lawyer, Joel Leppard. Or will they simply parrot them as they did with Stormy Daniels’s lawyer? Or Letitia James? Or Fani Willis?

Credibility is extremely hard to win back once it has been expended. But casting a skeptical eye on disgusting claims that have remained unproven for years, even by the nation’s top law enforcement bodies, shouldn’t be too difficult for anyone who fancies themselves an actual news reporter.

Or perhaps therein lies the problem…