CLAIM: Rep. Matt Gaetz had a $482,321 loan from the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program forgiven even though he doesn’t own a company.
AP’S ASSESSMENT: Missing context. Caregivers Inc., a private at-home care company in Florida, had the loan forgiven. Gaetz reported in 2021 that he was a shareholder in the company, making him a partial owner. The company has sold and he no longer owns shares, his office said in an emailed statement.
THE FACTS: The House Committee on Oversight and Accountability’s announcement that it would hold a hearing Wednesday on waste, fraud and abuse in pandemic recovery programs has prompted social media posts that distort the facts around how one Republican congressman benefited from the forgivable aid.
“Matt Gaetz had $482,321 in PPP loans forgiven,” read a popular tweet that was copied and shared elsewhere on social media. “And Matt Gaetz doesn’t even own a company.”
“Start with Gaetz’ forgiven $450000 PPP loan,” wrote another Twitter user in a response to news of the hearing. “He doesn’t have, run or own a business.”
The posts misleadingly suggest Gaetz personally had a loan forgiven as part of the program, but the dollar amount they reference is actually for a company in which Gaetz was a shareholder at the time, according to records.
Gaetz’s 2021 financial disclosure documents show that he reported owning between $100,001 and $250,000 of corporate stock in Caregivers Inc., a companion care provider in Pensacola that his family members ran at the time.
Federal records show that Caregivers Inc. received $475,932 in pandemic-era loans from the federal government, which it reported it would use for payroll. The company had that amount plus accrued interest forgiven, bringing its total loan forgiveness to $482,321.
Gaetz is no longer a shareholder of Caregivers Inc., according to the statement from his office.
“Those who care for the vulnerable should not have had to go without pay during the pandemic solely because they worked for a company partially owned by a congressman,” the emailed statement read. “The company has since sold, and Congressman Gaetz retains no interest therein.”
Lawmakers weren’t blocked from participating in the Paycheck Protection Program and businesses associated with several Republican and Democratic lawmakers benefited from it.
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This is part of AP’s effort to address widely shared misinformation, including work with outside companies and organizations to add factual context to misleading content that is circulating online. Learn more about fact-checking at AP.
